


Retreat

by Irishgrlnextdoor



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Humor, Background Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Feelings, Homophobia, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Personal Growth, Public Scene, Therapy, Trust Issues, Unhealthy Relationships, pretending to be a couple, tags will be updated as we go so please check with each chapter, they are going to try not to kill each other, they are going to try really hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:34:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25100983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irishgrlnextdoor/pseuds/Irishgrlnextdoor
Summary: Dick and Jason have been asked to team up on a case, going undercover to couples therapy. Pretending to be dysfunctional together should make this the easiest job they've ever done, but it's proving to be the hardest, because it's not much of an act.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 128
Kudos: 457





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Huge Disclaimers: This is not therapy. I am not a therapist. This is fiction and I'm a bullshitter/writer. Do NOT take any pointers from the "therapy" that goes on here. Do not apply any of it to your own life or relationships. Do not put any stock whatsoever in what you read here, no matter how reasonable some of it might sound because I take NO responsibility. While therapy is picked on a bit in this at times I do advocate its real life benefits, and suggest looking into credible sources if you are curious or in need. I do welcome feedback from those that have gone to actual couples therapy, but just know that we are not going to achieve realism here. We are here for some chuckles, some uncomfortable situations, and these two boys stumbling through some feelings.  
> If I miss tags or warnings please just let me know
> 
> Enjoy

“It could be worse,” Dick insisted, glancing around the room, taking in the cream-colored walls and inoffensive beige and tan furnishings.

Jason noted as he snapped his scowl Dick’s way that the older man was purposefully not looking at the queen-size bed in the center of the room. “What exactly are you using for a basis of comparison there?”

Dick ignored his indignation, still somehow not looking at the bed even as he swung his bag up onto it before turning to check out the adjoining bathroom. “It’s actually really clean at least, so that’s nice,” he called out from inside.

Jason rolled his eyes, dropping his own tote bag onto the bed, and then using it to shove Dick’s shit to the far side of the bed where it would be out of his way. “Yeah right, twenty bucks says a black light would turn this place into a Jackson Pollock painting.”

Dick came back into the bedroom they had been assigned with a put-upon pout to his lip. “Well gee wiz honey, I got the best I could, the options were limited in this resort.”

Jason cringed openly. “Don’t you dare call me ‘honey’. Ever.”

“Or what, you’ll make me sleep on the couch?” Dick grinned, glancing around the room to highlight the fact that there wasn’t one before turning a bit more serious. “Besides, maybe calling you ‘Honey’ will help our cover story. This is a couples therapy retreat after all. I’m sure we’ll hear plenty of worse terms of endearment before the week is out.”

Jason grit his jaw until it hurt. “Yeah, remind me when we get back to give Bruce a proper thank you for this joke of a mission. I’m thinking something with fire, but there’s just such a simple charm associated with things that are sharp and rusty. I’ll decide which to pay him back with later.”

Dick was serious at last, moving back over to the bed and shoving his luggage, that had been hanging precariously off the side, back on. It shoved into Jason’s tote. They exchanged annoyed scowls with each other as they started pulling out their stuff. Changes of socks, travel toothpaste, smoke bombs, a Glock 19, domino masks… the basics. Dick did spare a glare for Jason’s Glock, however, “You seriously brought that to therapy?”

“To _couples_ therapy, hell yeah,” Jason snorted. “Relax though, I left the lethal ammo at home.”

“Jason-

“We’re here because of a string of violent homicides between otherwise happy couples, right? Couples that seem to only have this particular counseling retreat as a common thread linking them. I figure given that, can’t be too careful. Doesn’t the bat preach preparedness in weekly sermons to you and the brats still?” He shoved his tote back, pretending not to notice when Dick had to move quick to catch his suitcase. He also ignored the frown that followed it. “What kind of bullshit is that anyway?” Jason continued on idly. “If they were such happy couples then why did they all need to go to a place like this at all?”

Dick shook his head, but got back into a work headspace as they talked over the basis for this mission. It was a mission neither of them had signed up for, nor would have volunteered for, but Bruce had put the case in their hands after one of his old college friends, Truman Cunningham, had up and murdered his wife, Sophia. It was being advertised as a ‘crime of passion’ by the papers. Bruce had insisted up and down that his friend had never been the kind of man to ever hurt a fly, and that while it was true that he and his wife had had a lapse in their marriage, this retreat had seemed to rekindle all of that for them. For every public function following, the Cunninghams had been so in love with each other that it was sickening. And then out of no where, after a month of lovey-dovey fawning, Truman had shot his wife. Five times, four in the heart and one in the face, all close range.

Fucking cold.

“People go to therapy for a lot of reasons, Jason. Not going isn’t a sign that everything is fine. And to be fair, the people that come here really do seem to have results. The online ratings were sky high, not a bad review in the bunch, we were lucky to get in at all with how popular this place has become in the past year since it opened.”

Jason snorted again. “Luck has nothing to do with it, it’s the fact that the name of Brucie Wayne’s ward popped up on their registration. And to be fair, I’d say it would have at least one bad review if Mrs. Cunningham was still around to give it.”

The glare he got was scathingly reproachful for his dark joke. Even more reprimanding was the hard shove that Dick gave his suitcase, sending Jason’s tote toppling to the floor. “Well, that’s for us to find out, isn’t it?”

Jason balled his fists in anger as he glared down at his scattered clothing and weapons. “Keep it up, Dick, and we’ll skip the therapy and get straight to the homicide,” he warned.

Dick merely rolled his eyes, lip pulling up in a sardonic smirk. “Man, you’re so well adjusted they’re never going to buy that you of all people would need to come here. I think Bruce might have made a mistake asking you to help me with this case. They’re going to take one look at us and beg us to start teaching instead.”

Jason could play the sarcasm game. He could fucking win at the sarcasm game. “If the class is ‘How to not kill your partner even when they are begging for it,’ than yeah, I could open my own retreat on that class alone, with you as my lovely assistant.” They were well aware of why they had been tasked together with this, however, Bruce had needed someone with name recognition to get in short notice to the booked resort, without pulling too much tabloid spotlight on the family or company. That nixed himself or Tim, but left Dick as an option. Even more helpful, Dick had been stealthy enough in the recent media that sudden news of a relationship could have been missed. He had just needed someone to play the part, the less recognizable the better so they could all slip back to normalcy after the mission was over. Someone that could keep a low profile. Cass was out of country, and the rest that fit that bill were either too young or on their own missions. But Jason, unknown to the media, fit the bill easily enough with but a small change to his last name on their registration forms and fees.

Thus they had been, as Jason liked to view it, cast into the 8th circle of hell together, and in this case it was a five star couples retreat.

The irony was thick enough to cut, because after this week, they were both going to actually need therapy.

X

“Welcome! This your first time? You’re going to love it!”

Jason and Dick both forced smiles back at the slightly intoxicated and shrilly enthusiastic welcome of the bouncy blond woman before them. Dick’s was a lot more practiced, actually looking cheery, and he was quick to give a polite, “Oh, thank you, we hope so. Don’t we, honey?”

Jason knew he had done that on purpose, just to be a pain, but he still almost shot Dick a death glare for it. It was gross being called that by a man who, while not exactly his brother, was certainly closer to that than his lover. Jason schooled himself by sheer force of will, his smile tightening further. “We sure do… Sugar Bottom.”

The red that spread across Dick’s face and the small grimace that came through even behind his fixed smile signaled Jason’s momentary win, and it was worth the pain of having said it in the first place, Jason’s own smile a little more genuine as he looked around the room.

The roster they had been given for the week had called for a mixer in the community building on the first night, giving everyone a chance to meet and greet in their group. The whole retreat was tucked away just an hour outside of Gotham, set like a hotel in the middle of the woods, offering amenities like pool, nature trails, all the therapy you could suffer through, and most importantly-

Jason’s eyes located and locked on the private bar that had been mentioned, trailing the drinks people were holding back to the little bar window in the back of the community room where most of their group sessions were set to take place.

He could tell just from the look of the bartender, a fifty-something old man with resting bitch face and nose hairs that Jason could spot from across the room, that he had just found his new best friend for the week.

He barely caught the rest of the woman’s introduction of herself as she chatted them up. “They didn’t want to give Denis the week off but he claimed his father passed away and _ka-ching_ , thank you bereavement, here we are again. This is our third time.”

Dick’s brows shot up at that while Jason was still cringing about the false bereavement claim. “Third time? I didn’t- that is, we had heard nothing but praise for the effectiveness of this place and-

She grabbed his wrist, a little faster and harder than she probably meant to in her intoxicated state. “Oh it’s true! I promise you,” she laughed. “Don’t let me scare you. This place saved our marriage, we’re never so happy as we are after going through this place together, so we just come back for little tune ups. Honestly, it’s more a vacation to us than it is therapy anymore. You’re going to love it! I’ve yet to meet someone that completed the program and didn’t love it. Mary and Gary are more than therapists. They are miracle workers. Angles, both of them!”

“Well hallelujah,” Jason deadpanned. “Well, as long as you’re making friends, Dick, I’m going to go get a drink and-

The blonde woman lit up like a Christmas tree, letting go of Dick and snapping onto Jason’s arm with a speed that Bruce would have commended her for if this was training. “I’ll go with you, get myself a top-off. We can gab!”

 _Oh ffff_ \- “Fun,” Jason gritted through a smile. She gave a last wave to Dick before practically dragging him along by the arm with her.

“So how long have you two been married? They legalized it… what, two years ago?”

Jason stiffened uncomfortably, but tried to recall his cover story with Dick. “It was five years ago. But we’re not married. Dating. Um, about a year and three months now.”

“Oof, you two are babies,” she gushed, “Dennis and I have been together seven years and married for six. You’ll get there someday, and then you’ll be so glad you came here. Maybe you’ll be able to avoid the slump we went through in years three and four. Trying to convince yourself that you’re not pathetic and crazy when you become so desperate that you hit on his dad because you haven’t had sex in two years… never again for this gal!”

Jason was seeing more and more how this place was connected to homicides. Case closed. He just didn’t understand how they were taking so long to occur after checkout.

He was almost ready to abandon his goal of reaching the bar altogether when they finally made it there, and he recommitted to it, flagging down the grizzled server. “I’ll take a whiskey neat.”

“Will be $17,” the man groused, not moving to get it until he got confirmation.

Jason’s jaw dropped. “Seventeen- are you serious?”

“It’s criminal,” the blonde sighed, “They get you in here and price up the booze.”

“We have half-off specialty drinks if you’d find that a little more… economical,” the barkeep shrugged, gesturing towards the pink cocktail that the woman was currently halfway through.

“It’s good stuff,” she promised, “Strong too.”

Sure, whatever. Jason ordered a double of it, turning back to fish for the woman’s name. “So…

“Sarah,” she reminded him helpfully. “Sarah Brighton, my husband is Dennis, and Dick called you… Jason, right?”

“Jason Hood,” Jason agreed, tapping his glass against hers gently when it was given to him. He took a deep drink, pleasantly surprised by the fruity taste. It really was good. Jury was still out on strong, as it was hard to taste the alcohol, but Long Islands were tricky like that too. “So Sarah, if this is your third time here you must know what we can expect, not to mention most of the staff members.”

“And many of the clients too,” she laughed in agreement. “There’s a roster of regulars that come back here for tune ups like Dennis and me.”

Okay maybe there was something there. “You say you know some of the other clients? We actually heard about this place from-

He cut himself off, making a show of hesitating to go on.

Sarah focused through her drunken haze after she grabbed up her second drink in her free hand. “Who? You can say, there’s no shame in anyone coming here. Anyone famous?”

“Yes and no,” Jason admitted, “Dick knew Truman Cunningham, who recommended this place before-

Sarah’s whole face paled and fell, so she had at least heard on the news about it. “Oh… it was a tragic shock, wasn’t it?”

“You knew them then?”

She nodded, “Dennis was the one that recommended this place to Sophia. They were having a horrible time in their marriage, fighting like cats and dogs when they started, but by the end of the week they had made more progress than anyone. They were so deeply in love. It was just tragic. So senseless. I heard in the news that Truman was inconsolable during his confession to the police, but after how coldly he killed her-

“Mrs. Brightman, Gary and Mary are waiting you in the other room, if I could steal you for a moment,” interrupted one of the staff, red nametag distinguishing him as ‘Kyle’.

Sarah smiled politely, regaining herself in an instant. “Of course.”

“What’s going on?” Jason questioned, starting to glance around to see if Dick was doing his own recon.

Sarah’s smile on him was somewhere between reassuring and wary, like something a kid would receive before getting a shot from a nurse. “Normal part of the process, don’t fret, Cutie. The first night couples go through private meetings with the counselors to- well, it really is best if you just get the experience yourself. It’s hard the first time, but you’ll be fine.”

That was… not ominous at all. As she was led away, Jason almost reached out to grab her back protectively, worried about what she was maybe about to go through if she followed Kyle. But she didn’t give any resistance to the staff, and she would likely just get upset if he made her spill either of her drinks by grabbing her. He instead looked around the other couples, spotting Dick in the midst of a small group over by the stone fireplace, purely decorative in these warmer months. The people around him seemed to be in good spirits. Or at least, full of good spirits, Jason eyeing a few empty glasses in their hands.

Jason took another drink of his and trudged over to join them.

Dick was doing his thing, being charming and charismatic Dickie Grayson, the biggest brightest smile, center of attention, making everyone else smile back as he all but grabbed a trapeze to entertain them. The group he had formed around himself were laughing at some joke he had made. Jason couldn’t help himself, braying out a laugh as he joined the group, laying on the asshole just a little bit thick as he entered the group, making sure everyone took note of the drink in his hand so it would appear he was drunker than he actually was. Halfway through the glass and it was sadly proving less strong than Sarah had promised him.

The laughter of everyone else died off and Dick’s smile dropped around the edges as Jason cut through the others oafishly to reach his side. They were here for counseling, so Jason had to do his part to make that apparent. It wasn’t even a challenge, he just had to think about how his shit ‘father’ used to act and emulate just a little bit of that. “Found yourself a captive audience, huh, Babe? Well, go on, might as well get it out of your system so you’re not yammering at me later on.”

The smiles dropped from those around him one by one, a few spared sympathetic looks with Dick.

Perfect.

Just like that, their cover was made.

But then one woman that had been sitting on the armrest of her husband’s seat spoke up, loud enough for half the room to turn heads as she addressed Dick. “You’re just gonna let him be an asshole to ya like that?”

She was in her late forties, trying to pass for thirty still with a body held together by cosmetic surgery and tanned-leather skin, but she was glaring daggers at Jason through her heavy eye liner and Jason couldn’t help but find some respect for her take-no-shit gumption to call him out for being an ass.

That is, until the truth of the matter came out.

She wasn’t just coming to Dick’s defense, she was anger personified, proven as soon as her own husband let out a sigh and tried to urge her to let them sort it out, and she rounded on him instead instantly, going from six to eleven on the volume just as quickly. “You fucking serious? You’re going to undermine me here too, Harvey? On our first night here? You can’t take my side for two seconds? Jesus, I’m going to start calling this asshole here ‘Deloris’ because he might as well be your mother with how you’re taking his side! You can’t support your wife, the mother of your two children, for one mother-fucking week?”

Harvey let out his own fed up sigh before firing back his own shots. “Maybe if you want to be supported like my wife and the mother to my kids you should be acting like it, not like you’re going to the WWE with roid-rage. You pick fights all the time because you know you can stand behind me when your big mouth makes fuckers start swinging, but then you wanna holler that I never support you? What was that five thousand dollar medical bill I had last year from taking a bottle to the head in a fight that started because you had to open your big mouth on some asshole, Denise?”

Jason inched back from the couple, glad when Dick followed him. They were heros, but they could still spot when someone was beyond their brand of help. The saving grace was that at least those two were right where they needed to be.

“This place doesn’t also offer shock therapy, per chance?” Jason whispered once they were out of earshot of the others, still clearly able to make out the couple’s fight.

“Just be thankful our mission isn’t to be the most dysfunctional couple here,” Dick winced.

Jason chuckled then. “Right? I’m not about to hit on your dad and smack you across the head with a bottle just for therapy.”

“Awe, that’s sweet of you to say, really.” Dick rolled his eyes, then he was serious once more. “There’s something I wanted to tell you about actually. They’ve been pulling couples out one by one for private meetings with the counselors-

“Oh, yeah, they took Sarah.”

“Well, they seem to go, spend about fifteen to twenty minutes in what someone called the ‘movie room’, and then they come back out all quiet and somber. I tried to ask Dennis, Sarah’s husbands, what that was about, but he-

“He wouldn’t tell you. Sarah wouldn’t tell me what was going on either,” Jason admitted when Dick nodded his head. “She said it was best if we just go through the experience or something. But I did get a lead on possible causes for the homicides.”

Dick turned back to him, eyes wide in shock. “What?”

Jason held up his drink, which was actually starting to kick in just a little, just enough to make his mind warm around the edges. “The price of drinks here is downright criminal. Half off, and this was still $8.50 plus tip. How have they not had more murders, that’s what I demand to know.”

Dick’s whole body seemed to deflate, but before he could snap at Jason, someone was tapping him on the shoulder.

It was Kyle. “Mr. Grayson, Mary and Gary are awaiting the two of you in the other room. If I may escort you…”

Dick turned back to Jason, sharing a look, a certainty just like suiting up for battle against one of their rogues gallery. Jason wondered if they were wrong to leave their domino masks back in their room. He returned that look, all the same, and they followed Kyle with all the intensity of going into a fight for their lives.

X

Jason didn’t know what emotion was winning out in him. Anger and embarrassment were both neck and neck front runners. Anger towards Dick, embarrassment with himself. Next to him on the stately brown leather loveseat- which was a joke of a name- he knew Dick felt the same, arms crossed over himself and leaning as far away from Jason as he could while his body tensed with embarrassment. Anger hadn’t quite come for him yet, but it would. Jason had no doubt of that.

Gary and Mary sat across from them, necks turned to watch the projector screen they had set up in the little meeting room. The projector whirred away on the table between them all. On the screen was Dick, and they were playing his application video.

It had been part of the reservation process, both parties having to record and submit private videos of what they felt their issues were that had them seeking therapy. 

Well, not so private, it turned out.

“He’s just got a lot of anger,” Dick was saying on screen, one of several points he had made by this part of the video. “Anger that wasn’t there when we- when we first met. I’m not afraid of him or anything like that, but I’m afraid _for_ him sometimes.”

Jason’s fists tightened in the pockets of his jacket.

“I want therapy to be good for us, good for him. I’m not sure he even knows how to be happy anymore, and it puts so much stress on us. I know his family just wants him to be happy, I want him to be happy. I want our relationship to work, but I don’t know if he still cares.

“Oh, and I know we’re here for couples therapy, but if we get the time, maybe he could also get a little something on the side for his daddy-issues. But I won’t expect miracles out of just a week,” he laughed charmingly at the camera.

Jason was seeing red. Or green. Maybe black, he didn’t know, but he did know anger had won the battle, and he was no longer embarrassed to find out like this that they were going to be shown each other’s videos. He was now only relishing Dick having to sit there to hear what he had had to say, plus a little something on the side. As the video hit the end mark Jason turned deadly eyes upon Dick, who moved a fraction of an inch further against the armrest, looking truly embarrassed.

It would earn him no sympathy. “If you thought I had anger issues before you’re about to get a divine awakening, Dick. And daddy issues? Fuck you, you’re the one with daddy issues! Licking B.’s boots like-

“Mr. Hood, please,” Mary cut in, voice level but commanding his attention rather than demanding it. “The important thing to take from watching these together are the false perceptions of each other that we will be breaking down and resolving throughout this week. They are eulogies, for those tumor-like inner dialogues that we find ourselves falling back on time and again when we interact with each other. Here you will both be given tools to cut these toxic perceptions and traits out of your relationship. These videos will be our guidelines for what to tackle together this week, okay?”

Jason only continued to glare at Dick, who refused to meet that look.

Mary seemed unconcerned by this, “Shall we continue then to your video, Jason?”

“Oh yes, Mary,” Jason agreed with some viperous delight. “Let’s continue to my video.”

Gary loaded the next video, and then Jason popped up on the screen next, talking into the camera. He had purposely put on a persona of not taking it too seriously, the same act he planned to keep up while here, but he had been told to keep it as close to the truth as possible while still sticking to their cover stories. He smirked arrogantly on the screen as he started his video. “So Dick wants to go to this- I don’t know, therapy retreat I guess? Between you and me I’m making this to get him off my back about it. I don’t really go in for all this brain-whooey. But I would be the first to agree to _him_ seeing a shrink or two. Fuck knows he could use it.

“You want to know what his issues are? Where do I even start? Narcissistic. Shit, start there. Dick knows how fucking pretty he is, and he’s a fucking diva about it. He flirts with anything that has a pulse. Honestly, I would think he had no value in himself if I didn’t already know how high that pedestal was that he was sitting that bubble butt of his upon.”

Jason glanced over to Dick. He was starting to lose some of the tension of his embarrassment, lips starting to thin a bit in agitation. Jason smirked. Take that, fucker.

“Um, let’s see, oh, then there’s how absolutely desperate he is for attention. Maybe we can chalk that up to the narcissist thing. You tell me, you’re the shrinks. But jeez, he will literally bend himself over backwards just to get it. From everyone. Everyone already loves him but that’s not enough. He’s gotta have more, always doing more, trying to be more perfect, more of a golden boy, more of a mentor, more of a protégé, more- just more. He’s so busy reaching for that next way to make everyone love him that he doesn’t even realize, they already fucking do! Like when is it enough? When do you have enough, Dick? Do you really need so much that no one else ever gets anything?”

Oh, okay, he had forgotten getting so caught up that he had spoken directly to Dick in the video. But it hadn’t mattered when he had thought that Dick would never see it. He didn’t look over on the couch this time. He could feel the anger starting to simmer on the man next to him.

Jason on screen let out a long sigh, recollecting. “The biggest issue between me and him, though, where our relationship is fucked up, is that old adage… you can take the showman out of the circus… Dick’s always putting on a show, an act. Everyone loves it. I see behind that curtain though. I’ve peeked under that tent and I know how he can really be when he’s not ‘on’, but he pretends that I don’t know anything. He always did, even when we first met. He had this aloof persona, this perfect leader to his peers and just such a great well-adjusted guy, but he was a fucking mess under it all. And that was fine, I’m not hating on that. I know messes. I am one. That’s how I get to see them in others. But I’m fucking honest and real about it and he just… well, the show must go on, right?”

He pulled a cigarette out of his jacket, taking a moment to light it. Jason wouldn’t turn one down at the moment as his gut started to fill with lead, tempering his anger once more. The Jason on screen exhaled and snorted a humorous laugh. “Fuck, good luck with your therapy on him, Docs. Enjoy the show I guess.”

The silence that filled the room as the video hit its end was deafening.

Jason chanced it, glancing over to Dick.

He was rigid with anger, face flushed dark with it. He carried the same tension that came just before an attack, or before he flew off the handle. Because as much of a hothead Jason got accused of being, Dick was worse, in his humble opinion. Dick wasn’t quick to anger, but when he got angry he got downright mean about it. But he would never admit that, it was part of that hypocrisy he held that Jason could always see through.

He said nothing, Gary the first to actually break the silence once it was clear neither of them were about to volunteer. “Now Mr. Grayson, Mr. Hood, just as Mary said before, these are our false-narratives of each other. You might have noticed other couples returning to the party in a down mood, yes?” He pushed up the wire-frame glasses sitting low on his large nose as Dick gave a very stiff nod of his head.

“This first night is often the toughest for people because we are starting off with fights that have likely been fought several times over between you before coming here, right? Those sore topics that have always been there but were not properly addressed before. Well, the good news is that you’re here now, and they will be addressed, and we will be doing that together. That’s why you both came here, because you want to work on your issues together, yes? Well, here are the issues, and now is the time to take a breath and rejoice that they will finally, finally be tackled by the both of you for the betterment of your relationship. And rejoice further, because you won’t have to do it alone. I’ll be on your side, and Mary, and all your peers out there, they are here for many of the same reasons. I promise you that neither video brought up any issues that we have not heard in others already tonight. I want you guys to go back out there with the knowledge that- as hard as this first step was- together we are going to change it. Together we are going to heal this relationship.”

There was such hopeful certainty in Gary’s plump face. Jason almost felt bad for the man when Dick finally gave a very flat and curt, “Are we done for tonight then?” voice thick with anger.

Mary nodded and got up from the couch, willing to see them out with a kind, understanding smile. Dick marched to the door ahead of her, unwilling to wait. Jason followed, still plenty angry himself, but he stopped short when the door slammed closed nearly right on his face, not even an inch to spare between it and his nose.

Mary made a small apology and tried to give him some assurance, but that red was back in his vision and Jason let himself out with a huff. He saw Dick’s retreating back heading towards their room rather than back to the party for more reconnaissance. A part of Jason wanted to storm after him, knowing it would lead to a fight. Fuck him, he decided. Dick was just mad to hear the truth.

Jason made his way back to the party, needing another overpriced drink.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Jason have their first group session

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your kind comments, they made my day, and seeing that I wasn't the only one interested in this sort of story was the boost needed to get chapter 2 to you sooner, hope you enjoy  
> Note that as the pov changes the biases will too a bit

“How you holding up, honey?” 

Jason glanced over his shoulder, mildly surprised to see Sarah. Maybe he shouldn’t have been. He was at the bar after all, and he was about six discounted drinks into the night. He felt like he was still in need of six more. He had become so resigned to keeping up this post he had made for himself that he had pulled one of the fancy lounge chairs up to the bar window about an hour ago, long-given up on recon for the night.

“Peachy,” he murmured, hearing the slurring fuzzing the edges of even that single word. “Jus’ hangin’ out with my good ol’ buddy Jimmy here,” he sighed with a tilt of his drink towards the old bartender, who was eyeing down the clock like it was something he had placed bets on.

“That’s midnight,” Jimmy announced as soon as the second hand hit the twelve. “I’m done. So are you, Kid. Will ya finish your drink already and get out of here?”

Jason gave him a sour look over his glass, only a few drinks left amongst the ice. He glanced back over his shoulder to Sarah. “It’s a tough love that we have for each other, really.”

She smiled in amusement, helping Jimmy settle up Jason’s tab for him before he passed back the card Jason had handed over at some point in the night. Probably after the fourth drink had eaten up all his cash. Jason tucked it back in his wallet, but it was a slow and sloppy job and he had the damnedest time getting it in the right hole.

Something about that made him burst out laughing, a hysterical little giggle on the end. Oh fuck he had underestimated the booze. He would be in trouble the second he stood up. He glanced around, seeing that there were only a few couples left, and at least two that were sniffling into their own glasses like it was the end of the world.

Fuck therapy. He had been right that this place was hell in disguise.

He hadn’t even noticed, out of it as he was, that Sarah had actually pulled up another lounge chair next to his, quite a feat since it was nearly as big as her. She flopped into it in exhaustion. “Yeah, first night’s a bitch. You’re doing better than Harvey and Denise. I thought she was going to straight up swing on him when they first came out. You probably heard the shouting they were doing back to their room. Half the country heard it I bet. Don’t be too concerned… Dennis told me a few moments ago that he passed by their room after calling our housekeeper, and they were having even louder makeup sex.”

Jason cursed his luck, his only friend so far being the simple, ignorant blonde woman that was so delusional that she swore this place was heaven despite having to keep coming back to this hellhole time and again. He finished the last of his drink and nearly dropped the glass when he set it on the bar, leaning back in his seat to just take a moment before he tried to get up and walk. It was going to be impossible, he just had a feeling.

Sarah continued as he tried to contemplate if he could just pass out for the night in the lounge chair. “You know, our first night here, after the videos, I called my divorce lawyer, and Dennis had to pay two thousand for a new window for this place because he had thrown my hairdryer at the window. Shattered it.”

Jason glanced over at her through blurry vision. “You seem fairly okay this time.”

“Well, the shock is half of what you have to cope with.” She shrugged. “No shock this time, and we already worked out the major issues from our first time here. We’re on to the smaller ones. All the monsters get less scary after you’ve slain the biggest ones together. Hey, that sounded pretty good, I should have that put on a shirt, make back my costs for this place. It’s worth it though. Or else I wouldn’t keep coming here.”

Jason tried to find some slim sliver of comfort in that. Anything to counter the dread of having to return to his room.

His small measure of comfort was swept away cruelly by Sarah just as fast when she patted his arm lightly in sympathy and said, “You just wait, this time next week you and Dick will be screwing each other’s brains out like you just started dating all over again.”

X

Dick sat stiffly in his chair, pretending to listen to the exercise taking place, but his mind was a thousand miles away. He was still pissed from the night before. Jason’s video had been a sack of shit, and while Dick had been more than ready to lay into Jason when he had finally found the guts to show up in their room, that had ended up being put on hold.

When Jason had finally shown up around one in the morning, he hadn’t been alone, or in any shape to remember any tongue lashing Dick had lined up for him. In fact, he had been so drunk that he had had to be carried up to their room by the Brightons, one of them under each arm supporting him. They had deposited Jason on the bed, and left after wishing Dick a good night with a final suggestion that he turn Jason on his side in case he got sick in his sleep. Sarah had giggled, quite drunk herself, and said something to him about just waiting until the end of the week.

Dick thanked them politely, and as soon as they had gone he had turned Jason on his side, and just kept on rolling him until he went right off the side of the bed.

Since Jason had hit the floor on his side and passed out within minutes of shouting pained but very slurred curses, Dick had left him there for the night, taking the whole bed for himself.

Even up until now, he hadn’t gotten the chance to lay into Jason for that shit he had said because his hangover was so full blown that he wouldn’t process or retain any of it anyway. So instead Dick had taken every opportunity to bang each cabinet, slam every door, and even left his phone’s alarm on until it timed itself out that morning. And now, in the middle of group therapy, every occasional soft groan of pain that Jason gave from his headache was petty justice to Dick’s ears.

He tapped his marker against the whiteboard he had been given just to rub in that salt a tiny bit more.

“Okay Bryce, your turn. In thirty seconds, tell Shania what you need from her, and Shania, just like Bryce did, write down on your board what you hear him needing and then we’ll see how what he says compares to what you are actually hearing from him.”

Dick tried to refocus. They were here for a reason. There were lives at stake. This was the only known link to the ones that had been lost already. They had to keep their focus and their eyes open. The first night had shaken them, but they simply had to recover. They had made it too personal. Rookie mistake. He knew better. He made himself resolve to do better.

_Always trying to do better, be better._

Jason’s video came back to him again, and he snapped his tapping marker so hard against his whiteboard that he didn’t even realize until Jason flinched and groaned that he had been scowling very deep, lost in thought, and the whole room was now turning to look at them.

Dick blushed and tried to give a soft apology, mumbling something about dropping his marker. They didn’t turn away, and he shrunk a bit under their attention.

_Just so desperate for attention._

“Dick,” Mary prompted, in that same soft but level voice. “It’s okay if you’re feeling agitated, for any reason. How about we let you and Jason go next.”

_You just need all the attention. When is it enough?_

Jason gave another small groan of pain, but Dick doubted this one was due to just his headache. Dick wanted them to just look away. Just give him a second. He just needed a second to get his guard back up. “That’s okay, we have no problem waiting. We’ll just-

“Turn your chairs please, back to back from each other,” Mary instructed, her thin face set, not about to take a refusal, even a polite one.

Dick took a breath, forcing a smile back to his face, forcing out a weak chuckle like it was amusing, rather than infuriating. He gave Jason’s arm a small shove to get him moving too, much lighter than he would have liked to give, and they both turned their folding chairs back to back from each other before retaking them.

Mary stepped over through the other gathered couples to stand by them and lead them through the exercise. “Now remember, our focus is communication building, we’ve learned a handful of small tricks and tools this morning already, so remember to implement those here. To reiterate a bit, for many of you, it should be no surprise after last night’s meet and greets that communication has broken down over time, but it can be regained. One of the most important things about communication is being able to trust that when you speak, you will be heard. That your partner will hear you, understand you, and respond to the needs you communicate to them. And you will also need to actively try to do the same for them.”

She turned back to Dick, instructing him to be the first to speak. “In thirty seconds, tell Jason what you need from him that you have not been getting in your relationship. What needs is he not meeting? You can tell him now, and Jason will write down what he hears, and we’ll see how those line up; and if they are skewed, we can address and adjust, yes? When you’re ready you may begin, Dick, and remember, we’re not going to use the word ‘you’. We’re not going to blame. We are going to use the ‘I’ statements we talked about earlier to clearly state what we are in need of.”

He could hear the pop of the cap on Jason’s marker, followed by another small groan from the noise. Thirty seconds… Dick could make Jason write essays on all the ways he was holding himself back from the family. But he had thirty seconds.

He thought about the distance that had been between them since Jason had come back into their lives, of all the times he had reached out, just to have Jason smack his hand away until Dick had been forced to wonder if it might not be just hopeless.

“I- I need…” thirty seconds, he reminded himself. “I need trust. I need him to know that if he falls I’m going to do everything in my power to catch him. I need him to have that trust in me. I need to be able to have that trust in him. I need to know he’s going to be there too. He’s gone all the time- he’s distant-

“No blaming,” Mary reminded gently.

“I,” Dick corrected, rephrasing. “I need him present more. I need him there. I need him to… I need him to forgive.”

“That’s time, thank you, Dick. Jason, can we see what you got out of that?”

Dick turned around in his chair to see, skeptical but hopeful that maybe Jason had heard at least something in there. On the whiteboard were the words scrawled in Jason’s surprisingly elegant script:

_Trust_

_Trust_

_More trust_

_Forgiveness_

Mary smiled approvingly, addressing the group as a whole for a moment. “Okay, we all see how Jason catalogued using in bullet points, cutting through directly to the root of what Dick needs from him? That’s a good lesson there of how sometimes in people the brain is trained to log away the meat of the presented problem and throw away the fat. This exercise can sometimes be a good way to gauge that short and to the point communication can be more effective for some, because it’s also important to see in these group exercises that we do not all communicate the same way just because we speak the same language. Language is actually a later part of communication between two people. Before that you are communicating with the way you look, the way you move, the way you look at another person… countless other ways, right? Okay, coming back to Jason’s board and Dick’s needs. Dick, would you say it’s a fair assessment that Jason heard the basic ideas of what you need from him?”

Dick couldn’t say he was entirely happy that Jason had in the end gotten so little recorded, but he supposed it was a start that he had at least been listening, and had heard that much. He gave a tight smile and nodded along.

“Okay, now we’ll do Jason’s needs and then come up with solutions together. Jason, start when you’re ready.”

Dick turned back around in his own seat, uncapping his marker and getting ready to write anything Jason said in his thirty seconds.

He heard Jason cap his own marker, and then sigh as he set it on his board. Nothing came for a long couple moments. Just silence. Then when Dick was almost ready to turn around Jason spoke up, sounding rather deflated and sour. “I need him to understand… that he hasn’t earned any of this stuff he wants from me.”

Dick jumped when he heard the clamor of Jason’s board hitting the floor, marker bouncing off where he had tossed them to the side.

“Jason wait, please wait. If you could just-

Mary’s pleas wouldn’t stop Jason, Dick already knew that, listening but refusing to turn around as Jason walked out of the room, staring down at the blank board in his lap. Nothing. There was nothing to write. There was nothing Jason needed from him.

Except, maybe there had been something small there, if Dick wasn’t reaching too much for something Jason might need from him. Dick scratched out on his whiteboard a barely legible:

_Understand_

X

Dick was a little surprised when he didn’t find Jason in their room. He had hung their whiteboards up anyway, as Mary had instructed for them all to do before she had let him out of group. ‘As gentle reminders to ourselves,’ she had said, and asked Dick to let her know if Jason would not be willing to attend their private session the next morning so that either she or Gary might try to persuade him otherwise.

Dick’s next guess for where Jason was proved to be right.

Dick sidled up to the bar next to him, passing his card over to Jimmy with a tight grin. “I’ll have what he’s having, and I’ll buy his next one.”

Jason gave him a narrowed glare out of the side of his eye, but continued to sip at the little pink cocktail through a straw.

“Two more of Love Potion Number 69, coming up.”

Dick snorted in genuine amusement. “That’s what they’re called? Seriously?” he turned to Jason for confirmation, but the younger man merely shrugged.

“They taste okay and do the job,” he grumbled, “Plus they’re one of the few discounted drinks.”

Dick smirked and took his when Jimmy passed it over. Not bad. Fruity. “Little hair of the dog, huh?”

Jason went back to sipping and glaring.

Dick moved a little closer so Jimmy wouldn’t hear. “Can we talk?” They certainly needed to. This mission was a mess. Even though the mission was to go through couple’s therapy posing as a dysfunctional couple, Dick felt like they were blowing it even as they succeeded in doing just that. The issue was it was supposed to be a cover, an act. Even if they hated each other, they had to be on the same side until this was over. They had to be a team on this. And they had to hash out some stuff in order to do that.

Jason shrugged, but picked up his double drinks to follow Dick, who took back his card and picked up the one he had gotten for himself as well. He found them some seats in the corner of the room that seemed secure enough from eavesdroppers, or standard places that could house listening devices. This place seemed on the up and up so far, but they were still here for a reason, and Dick couldn’t assume otherwise until it was ruled out that this place was somehow causing these sporadic homicides in the otherwise loving couples they had catered to.

“So talk if you were going to. I’ll even be generous and give you a full 60 seconds this time,” Jason grunted.

Dick sighed and set aside his 69 for the moment so he could focus on business. “We need to set aside our differences, and we need to work together on this. So far we’re not. I didn’t… the stuff I said in my video. I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know they were going to show them and I just… I thought it would sound good enough to get us in here. There was no guarantee that my name alone would do that.”

“So you want to say you made it all up? Pulled it all out of your ass and you don’t actually think I have anger issues or… or fucking daddy issues or- which is rich by the way, coming from you of all people.”

Dick tightened his lips in agitation, worried he might say something regrettable, when right now he was trying to avoid more fighting. “I’m not saying that. I just- we needed to keep it believable, so that we can pass these off as issues we actually have, right? I mean, you didn’t just pull what you said about me out of the air either. You got so personal that you were yelling right at me in that video.”

Jason cringed, sinking back in his seat for a moment to take another drink. “Yeah but I’m not trying to pretend otherwise. I fucking said what I said. You said what you said. But you’re the one trying to slap a band aid on it like it didn’t keep you up all night fucking furious. Acting like you’re fucking past it or above it or something. You’re in it. Your maybe in it even more than I am.”

“What does that mean?” Dick huffed.

Those teal eyes scowled at him meanly. “You’re fucking _pissed_ , Dick. You just don’t want to be pissed. Don’t want to crack that perfect persona you’ve masked yourself with. Never mind that it’s a glass mask and I can see right through it. I think that’s why you’ve always had such a problem with me. Because I didn’t buy your bullshit. Even the kind you were shoveling to Bruce. I could see it. I could smell it. You’re fucking full of it.”

Dick’s fists were making the leather and wood creak beneath their grip, all the anger from the night before- from the years before coming back up on him. “You- you’re the one that’s full of it!” he hissed in anger, leaning towards Jason so he could keep his voice down. “You look for the bad in everyone and everything, and then when you find it you cling on to it. You don’t know how to look for the good anymore, Jason, because you’re so use to the bad. You’ve surrounded yourself with it. For crying out loud, look at the company you keep these days. You’re closer to Black Mask at times than you are your own family. You don’t recognize the good when it’s real and right in front of you because you don’t know how to look for it any more! And you can put that blame on me or Bruce or your life before us all you want for that but the truth is you did that part to yourself. Because there was always something good there, always some light in the darkness, but you stopped looking for it. _You_ did that. We couldn’t do that to you, Jason. No one could. No one else has that sort of power over you except for yourself. So tell me again that _I’m_ the one that’s full of shit.”

Their glares were openly fixed on each other now, and Dick caught the way Jason’s jaw gritted his teeth, grinding them down. He felt the tightness in his own hands wanting to curl into fists to be thrown.

There was a tense silence.

Jason growled into it bitterly. “Don’t fucking assign blame. Remember, Dick? Use ‘I’ phrases, not ‘You’ phrases,” he mocked, raising his voice to imitate Mary’s before picking up and throwing back the rest of his first glass, turning to the one Dick had bought him to follow up.

Maybe he shouldn’t have bought Jason another one. Dick had seen the evidence last night that they could be strong. Not that Jason was drunk yet. He wasn’t. He was just… Jason. Dick buried his face in his hands, rubbing at it hard in exasperation before amending his sentence into an I-statement. “I- I’m… going to lose my freaking mind here.”

“Cheers to that,” Jason snorted before throwing back his second little pink cocktail.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Jason and trust falls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my other wips are not given up on, but I write what speaks to me, which makes it more fun to write and read. And idk, I'm just having a lot of fun with this fic.

Jason wasn’t hung over today, but he still woke up in a poor mood. Between his fights with Dick and the soreness of his muscles from having spent a night curled up on the floor, the bed had been a desperately needed safe haven. He hadn’t even bothered with feeling weird about it that they had had to share, tired as he was. He had just plopped down on one side and passed out before Dick could finish his shower. Leaving it entirely up to him to figure out how to share.

In the morning, however, Jason had been resentful to wake to the alarm, and even more remiss to leave the comfort of the bed. Upon cracking his eyes open, however, the first thing he got to see was his whiteboard tacked up on the wall.

_Trust_

_Trust_

_More Trust_

_Forgiveness_

Dick must have done that, probably just to further be a… a dick.

Jason’s day didn’t get any better, after taking himself firmly in hand in the shower- feeling horny and backed up from days without privacy- and brushing his teeth like he was going to scrub them right out of his skull, Dick informed him that they had another private session with Gary and Mary, and that Mary had mentioned coming to get him if he didn’t attend.

He went. He wasn’t happy, but he went.

The pair of them were waiting in the office, both smiling soft happy smiles to see them. Jason could assume they were smiling because of how much they were making off each couple in this week-long retreat. Jason would probably be grinning big at everyone too.

“Welcome guys,” Gary greeted, “Please, join us.”

Okay, they were still here for a job, so Jason tried to keep his eyes open as he followed Dick to the chairs set across from the councilors, allowing his attention to shift all about the meeting room as if just taking note of the décor.

It wasn’t a real office, no desks or filing cabinets. They could try to locate that stuff later. This was just a glorified meeting room, the same one they had watched their videos in on the first night here.

Jason noted the certificates of education on one of the walls though, surrounded by framed articles and rave reviews and thank you letters to the program. They had checked the credentials of the counselors before coming in on this mission, everything checking out on the surface. Not a single blemish on either Gary or Mary’s records. Two people specializing in couples counseling, married themselves for nine years respectively. By all accounts, upstanding doctors in their fields. Except for the fact that their patients were having psychiatric snaps and Bruce wanted to believe up and down that the one he knew was not capable of doing that on his own without some sort of outward influence. 

“Rough start, huh?” Mary prompted Jason, claiming his wandering attention. She sounded sympathetic about it, her smile easy upon him.

That was an understatement. Jason just shrugged, crossing his arms over himself.

“It can be for some,” Gary assured them, “But you guys are not by any means the worst case we’ve ever had, so we don’t want you getting discouraged. We’re all here for the same reason, right? To make this relationship healthy, happy, and thriving. Doesn’t that sound good?”

Jason fought not to roll his eyes, giving no response while Dick gave a weak nod of his head.

Gary pushed at his glasses, “Now, Mary did tell me that you left the group session early yesterday, Jason.”

Here it comes. Now he was the issue.

Gary leaned forward a little more in his seat, making earnest eye contact with him. “We both want you to know right now that it’s okay if you ever feel you need to take a moment, either one of you. It can be overwhelming going through things like this. These exercises serve purpose, but by design they are very emotionally charged and sometimes people can find them very overwhelming, especially when they are not used to putting themselves in a position where they can feel vulnerable while also feeling safe and secure. For some that can be a completely foreign concept, and feelings of vulnerability can easily trigger behavioral patterns such as anger, embarrassment, or even fight or flight. The point is to 1. Recognize that taking a moment or walking away from a charged situation is not the same as walking away from each other or the issues at hand, even though in that moment it can sometimes feel that way. Second, now you are going to be able to start recognizing these behavioral patterns in yourselves, and start learning which ones are working towards the betterment of your relationship, and which ones are not. The ones that are working against you guys will be the ones we will work on changing together.”

Mary agreed amicably, “Absolutely. After some discussion, Gary and I decided that we would like to take this hour to work on Jason’s ability to feel vulnerable, but valued at the same time, and Dick, we would like to work on ways you can help encourage that. In the end, you both will find benefit in the openness it can bring you. Dick, I recall one of the things you brought up needing from Jason yesterday, was for him to know that you will be there to catch him. What do you say we take our first steps towards him being able to trust in that?”

Jason’s head was starting to swim from all this coming at him at once, trying to process it all, but there was already a thick unease settling in upon him. Just the idea of purposely trying to be vulnerable around Dick… jeez he was trying hard not to look in the direction of the door.

Pattern of behavior, Gary had called it, fight or flight. He didn’t like this guy telling him how he was going to feel even before Jason had gotten there himself. He felt like that was what had just happened, and that had him feeling called out, even though the overall message had been largely positive and forgiving of his walk out the day before.

He kept himself in his seat only because he didn’t want to give them all the satisfaction of feeling they had him figured out that easily. But making himself vulnerable…

“Jason,” Mary prompted, grabbing his attention back from his spiraling dread. Her smile was forever kind. “Jason, are you familiar with the concept of trust falls?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake… Jason actually relaxed quite a bit at that, feeling like he had gotten worked up for nothing. Dick and he had fought together in the field against foes a time or two since his return. He could trust Dick to not let him fall on his ass in a quick trust fall. If they were just going to do a few trust falls and call it a day they were already set. “Sure, they do them on TV shows,” Jason shrugged, purposefully dumbing down his education on general psychology. “So you want me to stand up and we can-

“Not exactly,” Gary broke in, pausing Jason with a hand held up in the air between them. “I want to just ask you a few hypotheticals. Rather than having Dick start out by proving that he can catch you, we’d like to gauge how much faith you are willing to put into him that he would do so. Okay?”

Jason frowned at that, guard starting to come back up just a little. Next to him, Dick looked equally confused. “Um… I guess.”

“Good, well Jason, I want you to give me just yes or no to start with. Say yes if you believe with out a doubt that Dick would catch you. If there is a sliver of doubt, however, I want you to just say no, this way we can kind of gauge where your trust is actually at, okay?” He cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses again before starting, “Jason, if you both were to stand up right now and you fell back, do you trust that Dick would catch you?”

Okay, easy enough. “Yes,” Jason agreed quickly enough, as he had already figured on.

“What if Dick’s arm was broken? Do you think he would still try to catch you?”

Jason kind of frowned towards Dick, for a moment, but “Yeah, he most likely would.” Because the guy was indeed self-sacrificing like that. Always a martyr. How many injuries had Dick played through the pain?

“Okay then, good. But what if Dick was fine, and both you and Mary were to fall back at the same time? Let’s say he could only catch one of you, and the other would have to fall. Jason, do you feel without a doubt that Dick would catch you?”

Jason didn’t want to give them that answer. He and Dick both knew the answer already. Why did he have to say it out loud for them both? Plus it would give insight that he just didn’t really want them having. He could lie, but then was he being the righteously self-sacrificing one? He didn’t know.

“Jason?” Mary urged gently.

For whatever reason, he couldn’t force out a lie. “No. He’d let me fall, but- to be fair- I’d be fine anyway so does it really matter? Who can’t take a fall? We get back up when we fall,” he murmured, starting to ramble off some junk he thought he had picked up from Bruce at some point.

Dick couldn’t keep all the guilt off his face, but he didn’t argue, sorry though he looked, and also increasingly nervous.

Jason felt that same nervousness, wondering how far they planned to go or how they might use this information they were needling out of them. They shouldn’t have come here. Jason fought not to eye the door again, or let his anxiety call up his defensive anger. 

“What if you couldn’t get back up after?” Gary amended. “If it was a fall either you or Mary would never recover from, knowing that ahead of time, do you not trust him to catch you over Mary, whom he hardly even knows?”

How could they make such a complicated question sound so fucking simple? It wasn’t that simple. Jason couldn’t say that though, and he was starting to feel hot under the collar, sweat starting to bead around the small of his neck. “I don’t-

“Yes or no please, Jason, and remember, these answers are yours, but that doesn’t make them your partner’s. You’re here and safe, and Dick has not even had the chance yet to prove his willingness to catch you. We just want your honest perception. Do you feel without a doubt Dick would catch you over Mary if he knew one of you would never get back up?”

But he already had- he already had and Jason hadn’t gotten back up and- That was unfair and Jason knew it. But just the same, they were trained that way, to put the good of others before themselves. Before each other. That was the whole reason they were here and…

“Jason?”

Dick leaned in too, looking at Jason like he might reach out at any moment and grab him. Jason didn’t want anyone touching him.

“I- I want a fucking moment, okay?” Jason snapped, feeling defeated the instant the request left him.

Gary and Mary didn’t look at him like he was conquered, however. Instead they both smiled reassuringly and looked… pleased, like he had somehow done something right.

But Dick looked even more concerned, and he was leaning closer. “But Jason I-

Mary cut him off, speaking first to Jason. “Thank you for communicating your needs to us, Jason, we can all take a moment until you’re ready to continue. Dick, Jason is expressing to you something he needs, remember our exercise from yesterday?”

It was hard for him, Jason could see that much, but Dick still shut up and leaned back again, giving Jason his space, giving him his moment.

Jason knew he should be feeling better, but he didn’t. He paradoxically felt worse, unsure what to do now that the priority was being put on what he had said he needed. Just no winning, he chided himself inwardly. _You don’t even know how to be happy anymore_ , Dick’s words returned to him.

Jason didn’t mean to laugh at himself, but he did. Although the noise he made hardly sounded like a laugh at all.

Fuck it, the moment wasn’t doing jack shit. “What kind of stupid game is this anyway?” he snapped, “It’s bullshit. You said it yourself that my perceptions are only just that, perceptions. So until it happens for real there’s no way of knowing what Dick would actually do. So since my perceptions are not based in reality or whatever junk than why should they even matter?”

Mary folded her hands neatly over her lap, “Jason, one of the things that Dick stressed needing from you was trust. We are trying to not only gauge how far your current trust extends not just for our understanding, but for Dick’s as well. Where before he felt perhaps there was no trust whatsoever, he now can know that even on your end, you do trust him to catch you if he can. Even if it comes at his own detriment. There is some trust there between you two, but it became confused in you once someone else came into the equation. In this case, myself. You seem to have doubts when it comes to his ability to put your relationship ahead of any others. Would you say that is fairly accurate?”

Jason grimaced, and fell back in his seat, refusing to confirm or deny, thrown for too many loops, and aware that most of them had been in his own head.

Mary cocked her head then, turning towards Dick, a little more firm. “Dick, is there any reason or instance you can pinpoint that might have given Jason valid cause for mistrust in you?”

Oh shit, they couldn’t get into that. Not here, not now. Their cover suggested there had been trust they had lost at some point in being a couple, but the truth was it had never really been there from the start. Jason had wanted to trust Dick, to emulate him as the first Robin. He had wanted to love him as the perfect boy wonder just like everyone else before him had been able to. But Dick had been distant, and cold in the wake of Bruce taking Jason on, and the little time spent around each other had shown Jason more and more that he was really just a liar, that that perfect persona was a lie. And the more he realized that the more Dick had left him be to return to the Titans and then…

Jason could tell from the way Dick seemed at a complete loss for words that he was going over those same facts in his head. They couldn’t bring any of it up.

They weren’t left racking their brains for long, however, because Mary took in a slow breath before expanding upon her prior question. “Forgive me, Mr. Grayson, but I feel it prudent to address any possible infidelities that might have transpired during this relationship. Even if it was a transgression that you both have previously dealt with, such breaches of trust can often-

“What?” Dick floundered, brows drawing in confusion.

Jason was lost now too, glance flicking between Dick and Mary both as his brain slowly pieced together that she was holding the belief that perhaps their trust issues had some connection to Dick and… infidelity?

Gary spread his hands a little, imploring for understanding from Dick. “Forgive us if we seem accusatory in any way, Dick, but it was brought up in Jason’s submission video that you have flirtatious habits. Being known in Gotham as you are- especially as Mr. Wayne’s ward- your reputation is fairly infamous, and Jason’s claims caused some concern with us that perhaps you have not left such tendencies in your past. While you may very well have never progressed beyond simple flirtations with others, sometimes in a committed relationship that sort of behavior can be enough to cause feelings of insecurity and doubt in our partners. It would be best to inform us of any possible infractions now, so that we may deal with those together.”

Jason was struck dumb, processing what was happening. He found himself fighting back the impulse to laugh, of all things. A reaction so wildly different from the fear and panic from a moment ago.

Dick’s slow blink of realization as he continued to sit there almost did Jason in.

He had to bring his hand up to hide most of his face, trying not to smile or laugh at him, nearly failing.

Mary and Gary reacted to his movement immediately, with Mary passing a nearby box of tissues to Gary, who held it out to Jason.

Jason made a choked noise behind his hand, because he was going to end up laughing loud and hard the instant that Dick started sputtering to clear his good name.

Except, that’s not at all what happened.

Dick’s voice was flat and resigned when he eventually said, “I- I can admit that I still have a tendency to flirt, and… I guess I failed to ever consider how that might affect Jason before this moment. I didn’t realize it was something that ever bothered him.”

Jason scowled at the dumb joke, eyes shifting over to the other seat, but Dick was already up and moving. Instead of just turning on his chair, he shifted himself over to sit on the wooden center table right in front of Jason, his back to the counselors. Jason only stared back in wary suspicion when Dick reached out and actually took his free hand in a way that was fully unnerving and… weird. Jason nearly yanked his hand back, but Dick held firm despite how gentle his hold appeared.

The second Dick flashed him a sneaky smile and a wink…

Jason caught on to what Dick was doing, where he was going with this strange act. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to hit him. Maybe he should hug him instead. It was such a stupid plan, crazy enough to maybe work. To finally give them something false to present together in order to take back some control of this mess. 

Dick thickened his voice with concern, clutching tighter to Jason’s hand. “I never meant to make you doubt us. I should have been more considerate. I- I will be,” he poured it on, voice earnest despite the sneaky smile in the corners of his mouth where Gary and Mary couldn’t see it. “The flirting meant nothing, so no more of it. You’re what matters to me, Honey.”

Jason really was having a hard time fighting his laugh when Dick was putting on such an entertaining performance. A brief glance revealed that Gary and Mary were both watching them closely, seeming to be buying into the idea that they had just cracked the root of their trust issues. Jason bit the inside of his cheek to keep his smirk at bay. Finally, they were regaining the upper hand on this mission, slipping into those roles they were supposed to be playing. Jason relaxed into the guise, gripping Dick’s hand back, ready to put on an act of his own.

His voice was thick “I- I guess I just didn’t want you to think I was just going to be another jealous boyfriend… so I never brought it up to you, but I guess that wasn’t fair. I should have said something. That’s my bad, the… the lack of communication.”

Jason glanced again towards Mary on that last bit.

She smiled back encouragingly.

Hook. Line. And sinker. They had this.

Jason clasped Dick’s hand even tighter, lowered his head more, like it was a weight upon him. “It’s just been hard, especially since that time that I caught you kissing Barbara at Bruce’s Christmas party.”

Dick’s smile dropped so fast Jason kept his own at bay purely by some undeserved miracle. It was a good plan that Dick had come up with, really. That didn’t mean Jason wasn’t going to make it entirely easy on him, and there was an opportunity here to get back at him for leaving the alarm going during his hangover yesterday. It was true enough he had caught that kiss by mistake. Jason just couldn’t have cared less in all honesty. Jason Hood, however…

Jason took a shaky breath, running his thumb across the back of one of Dick’s hands still clutching his in reassurance. “I know that we already hashed out that particular situation long ago; that you had been drinking, and that you were really sorry. I thought I was past it. But when you still go around flirting… and I can’t even remember the last time you paid me any compliments-

Jason’s lament cut off with a small grunt as if it was hard to go on, and it was, in a sense. Dick’s hand had tightened painfully upon his own, a clear effort to cut him off. His lips were pinched in agitation again, but there was no real anger in him for Jason’s teasing. It was clear, however, he was not amused any more and felt Jason had gone far enough with this bit.

“Well, like I said, I’m done flirting. So you and I can-

“Just a moment, please,” Mary interrupted, turning her focus again to Jason. “There was a kiss between Dick and…

Jason pretended to look sheepish, as if he had somehow forgotten they had been listening. “Oh, that happened close to the beginning,” he assured her, giving a small smile to further reassure. “I shouldn’t even have brought it up, because we really did work through that one together and Barbara is actually a friend of mine, so I know she only let Dick kiss her at all because she had drunk a lot that night!” Jason laughed, ignoring the dubious glower in Dick’s eyes, “Poor girl never goes for guys like him in her right mind. No, we’re good on that one,” Jason assured again, willing to spare Dick beyond the teasing he was cashing in on now.

Mary asked for another confirmation anyway that he really wasn’t worried about Dick kissing anyone again behind his back. He assured her again he was not.

It was easy to be honest about that part anyway. Dick could kiss everyone in town and Jason wouldn’t find any personal affront in it.

Mary didn’t seem entirely done with that, but Dick gave her such a self-shaming look that she managed to set it aside for now for what seemed to be the ongoing issues. “Well, the flirting can be worked on still. Jason, I want you to empower yourself to speak up when you feel Dick is putting your trust in jeopardy, and trust in him that he will hear you.”

Jason nodded along agreeably, “I sure will.”

Gary clapped his hands together enthusiastically, leaning forward in his seat. “Okay guys, we’re about out of time for today, but there will be another group event tonight. Before we put a pin in this session, I want to see about not just starting to rebuild the trust between you both, but also the bond, because it’s clear there’s a division there. I’m told yesterday Dick also mentioned feeling like there was an absence. I’d like you both to put your heads together after you leave here and compile a list of activities you can enjoy doing together. It can be anything from going out for diner, watching a movie, sex, or what have you. Just some things that you can make it a point of doing together at least once a week. A ‘date night’ if you will.”

Dick and Jason both were silent in response to that, equally excited about the idea of planning out date nights together.

Before either could think up some placating agreement that they would fill out a made up list, Gary perked up in his seat again. “How about we start now, something easy that you two can do together this afternoon. You’re clearly both fit young men… do you ever work out together?”

Jason pressed his lips, again fighting a chuckle because-

“Well, once in a while,” Dick smirked, and Jason could almost hear the laugh in his voice under that brief answer.

“Well there’s something,” Gary beamed, “A perfect activity. How about going on a jog together around the property? We have some great trails. Or there’s a pool. A lot of couples find a swim together not only relaxing, but rather provocative considering how much skin it puts on dis-

“A run!” Dick cut in quickly, “That’s a good idea! We’ll do the run.”

Jason nodded along quickly. It really was a good idea. They would have a perfectly legitimate reason to patrol the grounds and sweep the area for anything suspect this way. No domino mask needed. “A run is perfect,” he agreed.

X

It was fairly warm out, so by the time they were nearing the end of their run together they were both dripping sweat. Jason had his shirt gripped in his fist, tired of how itchy it had made him as it had grown damp. He could deal on actual patrol, but here he could be more casual.

Dick was keeping pace easily with him, white tee shirt making his skin appear even more golden brown under the sun’s light. Jason couldn’t even recall the last time they had been out in the daytime like this- if ever.

It seemed almost silly that they didn’t patrol more like this in the daytime. While inside Gotham was never this bright and sunny, it was so much easier to notice small details about buildings, pathways, and the grounds in general in the day. Information that would be useful if they needed it later, especially at night.

They had first lapped the main complex together, taking in all the entrances and exits, the staff they saw, anything that looked out of place. There wasn’t much that appeared that out of place, however. They had stopped for a ‘break’ for a while to mill around the kitchen entrance to watch the food truck being unloaded, but there had been nothing noteworthy there. They had seen nothing excessive in neither security nor watchful staff monitoring everyone’s movements.

In fact, the staff member that was supposed to be monitoring the tennis court was asleep in his chair as two other couples played, so it was really lax if there was any security to be had.

The wood paths were uneventful, unless trees in a forest were suspicious. It was peaceful at least, and Jason and Dick had fallen into an unspoken pace that had matched up perfectly despite the differences in their strides. That link was small, but it was there, felt by both and it was… nice. Unacknowledged, but nice. By the time they rounded back to their start point, grabbing up the towels they had left with their water, they were both tired and floating on the natural high that working out could cause.

Jason’s crooked smile managed to make an appearance behind his water bottle as he drank.

“Something funny?” Dick dared to inquire, catching his breath.

“Imagining if Bruce had taken this case instead of passing it off to us. Next time a mission calls for therapy I say we make him do it himself. Not just for our sakes, for his too.”

Dick snorted a short laugh through his nose. “Who would he even have brought to this?”

“Selina?” Jason ventured, smile growing.

Dick winced. “She’d have killed him by now.”

“So we’re in agreement.” Jason shrugged. “We can’t lose.”

Dick rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile starting to break through around the edges of his mouth that Jason counted as his win anyway.

They sipped more at their water, Jason draping his towel across the back of his shoulders so it could catch the sweat as it formed there.

Dick’s small smile slipped away like dust in the wind as Jason finished off his water, something clearly settling heavy on his mind, infringing upon the easy vibe they were currently riding together. “I- just so you know, I would catch you.”

Jason slowly lowered his water bottle, unsure what to do with that because-

“You didn’t think I would catch you over Mary, even if I knew that you wouldn’t get back up,” Dick pressed on, eyes fixed on the ground between them, a pinched off look on his face like something was hurting. “But you’re wrong Jay. I couldn’t… once was hard enough and I- I would catch you, okay?”

Jason scoffed a bit. He couldn’t help it. “You’d catch me over an innocent life? After all Bruce has taught us about-

Dick’s eyes snapped up to his so fast it cut Jason off in the middle of his sentence, and there was something raw in those bright blues that made Jason almost feel like he should apologize or something. There was nothing biting in Dick’s tone, however, firm though it was. “You’re one too Jason. You’re life matters. A lot. Not just to me either- not by a long shot. Bruce-

“Let me stop you right there, okay,” Jason sighed, tired as opposed to frustrated, energy already spent on their run together, too tired and hot to let himself get really worked up again. “I know we’re in therapy, Dick, so this might seem like the time and place for that, but remember, it’s just an act. I’m not going to debate with you about Bruce. There’s not enough therapy- even here- for us to start shoveling that shit pile together, okay?”

Dick’s brows drew, but he seemed unsure what else to say. Actually, he seemed ready to give up trying to say anything all together, but Jason had one last thing to say, because Dick hadn’t been trying to be a total dick just then, so he felt it should be acknowledged.

“But as far as you catching me,” Jason licked his lips, because his mouth felt dry. Not because he was stalling out of discomfort because he wanted to believe Dick when he said that. almost felt like he could. “It’s- it’s good to hear it… thanks for that I guess.”

Dick’s scowl smoothed considerably, and after a heavy moment, his lip quirked back up a bit. “Yeah well, the other choice was Mary so, ya know,” he joked.

Jason actually found it in him to laugh.

Then Dick laughed, and then they both had a hard time stopping. Jason was still guffawing pretty hard as he pressed out, “Oh man, I so don’t wanna go to group therapy tonight.”

“Ever again,” Dick agreed, “But especially tonight, no.”

Jason caught a bit more control of his amusement, having just been dreading it in a very general sense. “Wait, why not _especially_ tonight?”

Dick’s laughter died away, but he still scoffed at the question. “Did you not even glance at the schedule we got for the week? Tonight’s group topic is going to be,” he held up his fingers to make air-quotes, “Rebuilding Intimacy.”

Jason stopped laughing too, everything today just trying to kill off the little buzz he had achieved for himself. “Well… shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again everyone for the kudos and comments last chapter, they were a joy to read and I hope you're staying for a bit longer! They really are appreciated and it trips me out to hear what you like or think about all this


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rebuilding intimacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's subtle, but some of you already picked up on some slight ooc moments, there will be more to come, especially starting here. yes it's plot.  
> Note: tags updated, check 'em

Jason wasn’t quite sure what the hell was going on with himself.

After the run he had retreated back to their room for a shower. He had intended to get to the hot water first before Dick took it all because he always took long post-workout showers. Even Bruce had known to get a shower in before Dick could after patrols for that very reason.

Once Jason had gotten himself in the shower, however, he had found those base-urges piling up on him again from out of nowhere, the need for a release as pressing as it had been earlier that morning. It was a little weird just because he had assumed before that it had been the result of not jacking off for a few days before, but now he didn’t have that excuse.

Without much else to be done about it, he had taken himself in hand once again, gasping through another hard-hitting orgasm that washed away down the drain. But then he found himself almost immediately set to go yet again. Even at his age… he tended to need at least a few good minutes before even thinking of a second round. “What the hell?” he questioned himself, scowling down at his own junk like it was a yippy dog that didn’t know the meaning of ‘down boy’.

Jason jumped at the sound of pounding on the door, feeling all the awkward embarrassment of his puberty years as he cupped himself despite the shower curtain and wall between them. “The fuck?” he hollered defensively, wondering if he sounded just as guilty as he feared he did.

“You’re going to take all the hot water!” Dick complained through the door, “Just like you always used to after patrols. You are the worst to get stuck showering behind, Little Wing.”

Jason gaped in indignation. “No, that was you!”

There was a dismissive noise made, and then “Please! Bruce and I used to try to get to the showers before you all the time because there’d be no hot water left otherwise. Finish washing your sasquatch-like body hair and get out.”

Jason scoffed back. “My body hair is perfectly normal! And I promise it takes me far far less time to wash it than it takes _you_ to freaking shave all of yours.”

“It’s called waxing, Jay. Learn it.”

Jason just shook his head again before turning back to the problem at hand, or rather- in hand. He started to stroke once more, seeking to just get the issue taken care of and get out. Their argument, however, wasn’t leaving him, and he found himself fixed on Dick’s claims of waxing, thinking that that explained a lot actually. All the times they had showered or changed around each other in the cave, he had just assumed the man didn’t really grow much of any body hair. That started bringing up memories of the smoothness of Dick’s legs, and chest, and… and…

Jason let go of himself like he had just received a fourth degree burn from his own dick, because no way in fuck he had just been jacking off and thinking about…

Nope. No thank you. That was a whole other set of therapy he could never begin to afford, even on Bruce’s dime. He snapped the water over to as freezing cold as he could get it, letting it stab at him like pins and needles, and feeling that it was the least he deserved.

“What the fuck, Todd?” he gasped at himself in horrified self reproach as he started to shiver under the spray.

It was only made worse when Dick decided he was impatient enough to knock yet again. “You got one more minute and then I’m taking my shower whether you’re out of there or not!”

Like fuck. Jason snapped off the water and grabbed his towel in under three seconds.

X

Dick would be the first to admit that he had initially wanted to sit this night out. Getting together in another group session to work on ‘rebuilding intimacy’ with his not-not-quite-a-brother had sounded comparable to taking a solid punch in the gut from Deathstroke.

An experience that was incredibly painful, able to make him almost think twice about taking on a mission, and leaving him wanting to hurl at the end.

He had assumed that before they had gotten started, half of the couples filing into the main lounge area with them like they were all on a death-march. Now, however, Dick wouldn’t have wanted to trade places with anyone else in the world.

“One more minute everyone,” Mary announced gently from the center of the room. “Are you feeling the connection to your partner?”

Dick was feeling it alright, grinning wide as he wrapped his arms just a little tighter around Jason. Under normal circumstances, all of his not-not-brothers would shove off or duck under his every attempt at bear-hugging the stuffing out of them. But right here, right now, he was getting his fill and there was nothing Jason could do to stop it from happening because it was part of the mission now.

So far there was nothing to this session; everyone had gotten some drinks, got settled in, did some breathing exercises, and then turned to their partners under the counselors’ instructions to engage in a few minutes of focused eye contact with each other (during which Dick and Jason had covertly had flat-out staring contests- Dick easily winning 3/0 because Jason seemed less than willing to look him in the eye for some reason) and now they had moved on to three minutes of uninterrupted hugging.

Unlike the eye contact, the hugging wasn’t a contest between them, but if it had been Dick would have definitely been winning this too.

Jason grunted uncomfortably as his hold tightened even more, rigid and radiating irritation for the full three minutes, but otherwise having to stand there and just take it like a man. Dick grinned next to his ear, and when he spoke into it Jason jerked his head away in agitation for the way it tickled at him. “Now this is therapy! I get to hug and torment you at the same time. I’m going to force everyone at home into this ‘rebuilding intimacy’ stuff! Bruce can’t argue if it’s medically prescribed.”

Jason growled in annoyance, checking over his shoulder to see if Gary or Mary were still watching. One of them must have been, because his arms stayed limply draped over Dick’s own back. He did chance a grumble into Dick’s ear, however. “Well, enjoy it while you can, Dick-for-brains.”

Dick snickered against Jason’s shoulder. “Trust me, I’m soaking it up like a sponge, Little Wing.”

Jason cringed and resisted yanking himself away, but barely. “Don’t ever use the word ‘soak’ in a hug with me again. You just got to make this especially hard on us both, don’t you?”

“Don’t ever use the word ‘hard’ in a hug with me again,” Dick merely mocked, tossing it right back at Jason. He got in one final squeeze just before Mary called for time.

“Okay, thank you everyone.”

Jason practically wrenched them apart, and Dick let his grin show because there was no reason to hide it at the moment as they all regrouped, waiting for their next task or ‘exercise’. A few other couples were sporting shy or enthusiastic smiles too. In fact, Denise and Harvey were almost inseparable, barely letting go of each other even when time was called as they relocated to one of the couches they had taken up at the start of the meeting.

Dick couldn’t help but feel hopeful for them, the romantic that he was. He glanced over to see if Jason had noticed the radical change in them too, but Jason was busy rewarding himself for having made it through the hug with a long drink from his cocktail. Dick rolled his eyes at the younger man’s antics, but Mary was calling for their attention once more. “Very good everyone, one of the easiest things to forget is that intimacy does not start or end in the bedroom. Simple acts of interest like these can help us to remind each other that we are loved and wanted, and strengthen that feeling of connection that we are all striving for here.”

Gary nodded along before lifting his hands with intent to direct them further. “We’re going to move on to our next exercise now. As with everything else, even our sexual connections link back to our ability to communicate with each other, so if everyone could turn to face their partners…”

“What if we prefer other positions where we don’t face each other better?”

The off-color question came from Harvey, and Denise grinned slyly to herself and smacked her husband’s hand where it had been drifting around her hip. “Stop it, you’re terrible!”

“Like you weren’t thinking it,” Harvey smirked, pulling her a little closer, which pulled up a few more wicked giggles from his wife.

Dick was one for romance, but even he winced a bit at the overly cliché PDA, as well as marveled that this couldn’t be the same couple from the first night that had been at each other’s- and everyone else’s- throats.

Maybe there really was something in the water around here.

Dick resolved to collect a sample of the tap-water running through the place to take back to Bruce for extensive testing, just in case.

He moved to sit in one of the lounge chairs, angling it towards the one that Jason took up next to it so they could better face each other. It happened to be just a short distance from Sarah and her husband, Dennis, Sarah shooting a wink at Jason like there was some sort of inside joke between them. Jason smirked weakly back and lifted his drink towards her in salute, face burning. Dick had no idea why.

Once everyone was settled and facing their partners, Harvey and Denise doing so with scant inches between them, Gary clapped his hands in front of himself. “Okay good, for this exercise we are going to work on communicating our desire for each other verbally, because I think at least a few of us here can admit that that part of the relationship has perhaps waned a bit over the years, right? So, whoever is the oldest between you and your partner, I want them to go first this round. Just look your partner in the eye and tell them one personality trait that you admire about them. Maybe they’re smart, or funny… think back to some of the things that first attracted you to them.”

Dick felt some of his bravado from the hug mellow out a little, turning to Jason, who was once more trying not to really meet his eye, a small scowl starting to crease his brow. He frowned way too much. Even when they had first met, he had been a scowly little guy, but Dick found himself smiling a bit even so because now those memories of 13 year old Jason were bitter-sweet for him. He could remember back then he had seemed to smile just as much as he scowled, a big beaming grin on him whenever he wore the Robin suit.

Dick had never appreciated it at the time. “You have a really nice smile,” he found himself blurting out.

Jason lost the furrow to his brows when they shot up in surprise, and then his face flushed red again and he sort of ducked his head back towards his shoulders. Considering how big he was, trying to subconsciously shrink down was kind of adorable to see. “T-that’s not even... they said a personality trait, dummy.”

Oh shit, yeah they had. Dick blushed a little bit too then, but scrambled to amend his now awkward answer. “Um, I guess I like how you… protect?”

The embarrassment slipped away from Jason’s face, turning to confusion. “What does that even mean? Sorry but, for a guy that gets complimented all day every day, you’re kind of bad at giving ‘em.”

Dick was also unsatisfied with his own answer, not because it wasn’t true, but because it didn’t really cover everything that he meant in it. “I mean, you’re a protective guy, Jay. You look out for the underdogs, you always have. The people in the narrows, the working girls and street kids… Roy, even Kori when she wasn’t quite herself. Even… even your mom, Jay, even after she- 

“Okay, that’s enough,” Jason warned in a hushed growl, suddenly very aggressive, and very serious, when up until that moment he had been looking rather thoughtful but pensive.

Dick felt very wrong-footed all of a sudden, never having intended to upset Jason. He had intentionally been going for the opposite. A compliment. He felt it was something for Jason to be proud of in himself.

Instead Jason looked ready to start swinging all over again, a whole mix of complicated emotions filtering through his rigid stance, bitter anger at the forefront.

They both were momentarily distracted when Mary spoke up to the group, and Dick noted that nobody else around them had an upset partner. “Okay, now it’s the other person’s turn. Tell your partner one of the personality traits you like about them.”

Dick slumped back in his seat, not about to expect anything nice at this point. “Just make your crack, Jay. Get it over with so we can _both_ be miserable, but I meant what I said as a compliment. It always made me proud of you anyway, so that’s why I said it is all.”

It was like a balloon deflating, the way the animosity drained out of Jason’s expression all of a sudden. Dick didn’t know if it was something else that was his fault or not, but he almost apologized for whatever had caused the rather lost look that took its place instead. “You- why the heck would _you_ be proud of me?” Jason hissed back, something disbelieving in his tone. “Didn’t exactly do much for the Robin legacy. I’m just the one that died, aren’t I? That’s my Robin legacy. Your costume on permanent display in the cave to warn everyone else who to not be like.”

Mary and Gary were both making a slow round within the room, going from group to group to listen in before moving on, so Dick didn’t have the luxury of a lengthy discussion about it, giving Jason the flat truth instead before they ended up being eaves-dropped on. “You were a good Robin, Jason. A great one. If you had sucked I wouldn’t have been as pissed about you being Robin as I was at the time. _I_ made Robin, it was _mine_ , and it had been special. At the time I thought it was something so special that no one else but me could have ever pulled it off, and then here you came, local kid, filling the shorts, and in record time. I thought that it was because what I had considered so special at first actually wasn’t, but I was eventually able to get over myself and see that it’s just that you were special too. Different from me, but still special. Like Tim’s special, and Steph, and Damian now. There’s yet to be a Robin I’m not proud of, and that includes you, Jay. You were my Little Wing, of course I was proud of you.”

There was a look on Jason’s face that Dick recognized only because he had trained himself to spot it in Damian by this point, a deep-seated vulnerability warring against his own insecurities.

It was a look he was so unprepared for seeing on Jason, Mr. Cocky Bravado himself, but at the same time it failed to really surprise him. He opened his mouth to try to give him some sort of reassurance, just like he would for their youngest cohort when he got that look, but suddenly Mary was there, drifting by them, pausing at the looks upon their faces. “Are you doing okay Mr. Hood? Mr. Grayson?”

Dick tried to come up with a smile fast, as well as something to say to assure her, but Jason beat him to it. “I was just telling Dick that I admire how good he is with the kids he ends up mentoring. He’s… he’s always been a good role model for them to look up to. He’s someone they all want to follow in the footsteps of. And he… he seems to actually care about them.”

Mary smiled wide, and Dick almost jumped when she patted his shoulder because he had been so caught off guard with that. It shocked him to hear it coming from Jason, the man now right back to refusing to make eye contact with him. Even if he was maybe just saying it for Mary’s benefit rather than Dick’s own, it still made something in his chest feel warmer, and his lips pulled up into a little genuine smile.

“Excellent, everyone,” Mary spoke up, turning to address the group as a whole. “Let’s move on to give our partners another compliment, something that you find physically attractive about them now, starting with the younger partner this time.”

She turned back to continue her hover over them, and caught the way Jason’s face started to burn red where he was slumped in his seat, picking his glass back up to take another drink. Dick almost laughed at the reaction, no more thrilled with the direction the exercise was headed, but amused by how easy it apparently was to fluster the younger man. He would have never guessed anyone that could call people ‘cocksucker’ on the regular would ever be so easily embarrassed about this sort of thing.

Mary didn’t move on, and it was becoming clear that she wouldn’t until Jason got them started at least. He turned even redder, starting to mimic his infamous helmet, as he ducked his burning face and muttered out a little “Um, he’s got a nice smile.”

Dick grinned big, getting the small inside joke that Jason had merely repeated the compliment that Dick had given him at the start of all this, Mary nodding her head in approval before finally moving on.

Dick assumed they could consider him already cashed in for Jason’s earlier attempts at embarrassing him in front of Gary and Mary with those ridiculous comments about Barbara, but he felt it a waste of a good blush if he didn’t do his brotherly duty to make it even worse for Jason now. He allowed himself to sink a little deeper into that Dickie Grayson charm, putting some false flirt into his smile as he winked obnoxiously at Jason despite Mary having already left them. “I’ll bet you say that to all your dysfunctional relationships.”

His goal had been to fluster Jason further, but he didn’t quite hit the mark. Jason held his blush, but his lip quirked up a bit in the corner as he snorted. “Naw, maybe you’re just special after all, Goldie.”

Dick laughed softly but genuinely at that. Jason had always been pretty good at using someone’s own words against them, for better or worse. “Flatterer. Okay, fair is fair, although technically you just stole my compliment for you from before. I guess if I had to pick a new one…” he let his eyes comb down Jason’s seated form slowly in deliberate teasing, but he almost laughed outright when it actually caused the other man to shift uncomfortably. He never realized it was so easy to embarrass Jason. He was definitely going to keep it in mind for future torments. He shrugged nonchalantly, “I guess I can admit you have the kind of body most men would kill for. Myself not excluded from that.”

He had thought Jason had looked funny all flustered, but he was downright hilarious in the way he suddenly straightened up and his eyebrows hit his hairline like they were seeking cover there. “Are you kidding me?” he demanded more than asked, incredulous with the answer he had just gotten. “You’re the last person in the world that can say he’s jealous of someone else’s body. You’re the one with the perfect body. Everyone says so. Yours is… is…”

Dick started to grin, and the wider it got, the more Jason started to flush all over again and his words died off on his tongue. “Perfect, huh?”

Jason scowled, but it held none of the darkness that it had before, just petulant annoyance for Dick’s antics. Dick snickered again when Jason flipped him off down low in his lap where Gary and Mary wouldn’t see it. “I take it back, you’re so ugly that when you sit in the sand cats try to bury you.”

“No, no, tell me more about what you meant by “perfect body”. You were being so nice a moment ago,” Dick chuckled, before reeling some of his mirth back in with another shrug, leaning back a little more in his chair. “Everyone envies traits in others though, I’m not an exception to that. You don’t think I ever wished I was taller, or built like Superman? A lot of guys wish they look like you do, Jason. Just saying. I always dreamed of being a big wall like my father was, but I know I take more after my mom. I’m just glad I didn’t stop growing at 5’6” like she did.”

Jason looked thoughtful now at least, though there was still a small margin of surprise and doubt in the corners of his expression. He wasn’t blushing anymore at least, and he was far more relaxed in his seat than they had been at the beginning of the night.

So of course Gary had to try to ruin all their progress as he spoke up to address the group once more. “Okay, now with the oldest going first again, you are going to state to your partner something they do in the bedroom that you enjoy.”

Dick almost cringed openly, seeing the same flinch in Jason, but then the entire group was interrupted when one of the men sitting directly to one side of Jason and Dick stood up and started to move away, only for his wife to start grabbing at his arm, trying to pull him back to his seat with mortified hisses under her breath, pleading with him to just sit back down and not cause a scene.

Naturally, it caught everyone’s attention, Mary starting to make her way over to them. “Mr. and Mrs. Carter, is everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” Mrs. Carter insisted, a little too firmly, still pulling on her husband’s arm as he also turned to address Mary.

“We’re just fine. We’re just going to change seats,” he assured her, tilting his head to indicate somewhere across the room.

Mary did a fair job of keeping the confusion at this from actually showing on her face as she smiled sweetly back at the couple. “Oh, is there an issue with your seats or-

Mrs. Carter pulled at her husband’s arm again, but with her other hand she started grabbing for her drink in order to just get up and follow him, willing to do whichever to avoid whatever the cause of this scene was from being made public. Mr. Carter ignored her attempts, addressing Mary as he gave a somewhat derisive snort. “Not an issue, but if we’re all here to talk about sex, I don’t want to have to hear about what goes on in certain other people’s bedrooms,” he explained, making a motion towards Jason and Dick specifically like he would to indicate litter on the side of a road. “It’s all socially accepted now, I get that, but I don’t need it rubbed in my face. We’ll go sit somewhere else.”

Dick’s jaw actually dropped, and he considered himself hard to shock anymore with all the dirt-bags he went up against on the regular. It was never the mega-maniacs that shocked him anymore, not nearly as much as hatred coming from the common man still did. At least with super villains you knew to expect this sort of thing.

His shock had only started to burn over into anger when Jason was already up and in the thick of it himself, squaring up on the man that had been sitting at his back. “You got a problem with gays, asshole?”

Mr. Carter didn’t even deign to acknowledge that Jason had even just spoken to him, menacing though he was. Like Jason’s outrage wasn’t even worth recognition. He flat out ignored him, keeping his gaze locked on Mary’s. She was outright stunned as well, caught so off guard she was left staring back at him like a fish behind glass. Mrs. Carter looked thoroughly annoyed with her husband’s scene, but said nothing more in protest. She didn’t even spare a glance for Dick or Jason either. 

Their refusal to even acknowledge them only fueled Jason’s anger, and he stepped up to the other man. Dick was almost sure he would throw a punch, getting up from his own seat too, although he was unsure if he meant to stop Jason or help him in the end, his own blood boiling hot in him with anger for their intolerance and Mr. Carter’s passive-aggressive play to shame them. Jason stopped just outside of Mr. Carter’s space, impossible to ignore, although the man did a really good job of trying to as he kept his gaze turned away from Jason as he snarled down at him. “If you got something to say, then just say it to my face, you homophobic piece of-

Mr. Carter had a brass pair, because he snorted as if amused, expression placating when he turned his gaze to his wife instead of Jason. “They like to claim we’re the one’s full of hatred while they’re the one’s foaming at the mouth and spewing profanities. It’s rich, really.”

Dick’s face burned, fists so tight they were shaking at his sides with the urge to start swinging, Jason no different but then the smug asshole would just feel his point was made for him, and they would be going to jail for assault. Dick also knew it was wrong, that it wasn’t justice in any legal sense to assault the man.

It forced them all to turn their attention when someone else spoke up in a hostile snarl from over Dick and Jason’s shoulders. “You _are_ the one that’s full of hatred, you intolerant ass-hat!” Sarah was on her feet too, small form coiled tight in her own anger as she spoke up on their behalf. “If they treated you and your wife the way you just treated them you would be acting like even more of an ape than you currently are! Even if you don’t support gay rights you can at least respect them as fellow human beings. Every person is due no less than that!”

Mrs. Carter was burning red in the face now, embarrassed at the scene her husband had caused, but the way those eyes flicked over Jason and Dick like they were just as much at fault, Dick only knew to grab Jason’s arm because he also wanted to advance further on the other couple as well.

Jason’s attempt to do just that was halted thanks to Dick’s hold on him, but it was Mary that held up a hand towards him to instruct in clear terms, “Let me handle this, please. We have a zero tolerance policy against violence in this facility, Mr. Hood. Mr. and Mrs. Carter, I’m going to have to ask you to treat all our guests with equal respect. We also have clearly stated guidelines in our registration forms against harassment and bullying of fellow guests. You can continue participation at this retreat as long as you can strictly adhere to such guidelines.”

It wasn’t half the request that it was worded to be, Mary’s tone absolute and edged with a sharp scowl around the corners of her face.

Dick really expected that to be the end of it, between the slice of doubt now worming its way across Mr. Carter’s face at Mary’s sharp response and the pinched looks a few of the other couples were aiming their way now, that should have been the end of it. Mr. Carter, however, proved slow on the uptake, because he hesitated to either retake his seat or leave.

It was Denise’s brash voice that popped up out of the group then, aimed right for Mr. Carter. “Hey Ass-pipe, stop trying to listen in on their personal conversation about their sex life just because you got nothing to contribute to your own, or fucking leave so that it won’t be hard for you not to listen in anymore.”

Jason actually snorted derisively towards the other man. “That’s okay, if he wants to listen to me talk about just how much I _love_ Dick, he can.”

Dick almost busted a laugh, caught off guard by the double entendre, but then Jason doubled down, wrapping an arm around his waist to pull him up against his side so they were hip to hip, and Dick couldn’t help but play along with it, draping his arm around Jason’s back as well, a grin cracking through the scowl that had marred his face moments before.

“In fact, I can’t get enough of Dick!” Jason jeered at the other man, who looked like he was sucking on a lemon as a few others laughed along at the double meaning.

Mary held up an imploring hand towards Jason, looking sympathetic even as she tried to cut him off from further baiting the other man.

Gary was the one to make his way over now, a pinched expression on his own face as he regarded the Carters. “Thank you Mr. Hood, I’ll handle this. Mr. and Mrs. Carter, if we could please continue this out in the hall so the rest of the group can continue,” he directed, gesturing crisply towards the hall, as much the picture of professional composure that his wife had been. Alfred would have been proud of them.

Mrs. Carter rolled her eyes dramatically, shot a scowl to her husband, and then shot a matching one back to Jason and Dick before getting up from her seat with a huff to lead the way out, not at odds with her husband’s opinion, just not as willing to make a scene of herself for it. If Mr. Carter felt embarrassed for how this was turning out for them he showed no remorse, merely clearing his throat and giving Jason a final side-eye that was still overly condescending before allowing himself to also be escorted out.

Mary turned back to the rest of the group as they filtered out, “I apologize for the inappropriate interruption, everyone, please return to your exercises.” She then turned back to Jason and Dick, dropping her voice, brown eyes very sincere as she regarded them. “We can absolutely speak more about this later if you wish, but I fully apologize to you both. Our policies and guidelines against harassment of any kind have always been clearly stated in our registration forms and we do not take their violations lightly-

Dick waved his hand to try to reassure her that it wasn’t necessary, or her fault. There was a bitter outrage simmering in his gut still, but not towards anyone other than the Carters. He could deal with that later, without Mary or Gary’s help. “We appreciate it, we’ll be fine. Some people have more problems than just couples therapy can fix, am I right?”

Mary smiled wistfully, but gave a nod as she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

She was stopped from turning away, however, when Sarah and her husband Denis started gathering their drinks as well and getting up from their seats. Instantly she looked worried for more trouble. “Is there a problem, Mr. and Mrs. Brighton?”

“Just switching seats,” Sarah announced with a wink towards Jason and Dick, moving to take up the seat Mrs. Carter had vacated. “Spare Dick and Jason the trouble of any more bad company.”

Denis gave a small chuckle under his breath as he smiled at his wife and took Mr. Carter’s seat. “I don’t know if I’d give us that much credit, Dear.”

“Well, _better_ company, anyway,” Sarah amended. “The bar is set super low now, so our chances are pretty good.” She turned around to grin back at Jason again, looking for support, “Don’t you think?”

Jason snorted his own laugh back at her as some of the tension left him, smirking back as he retook his own seat. “Much better,” he had to agree. “Don’t think I’m not hip to your game, however. You just wanna hear more about how much I love Dick.”

“Shit, who doesn’t love dick!” Sarah whooped, lifting her glass to Jason in salute.

Jason laughed, but brought his own up to click against hers as both Denis and Dick tried hard to pretend they were embarrassed by the two of them.

He and Jason both looked over when they heard a hiss though, noticing that Denise was hissing for their attention. “Hey,” she stage-whispered across the distance. “If they don’t get kicked out- you let me know if they do anything else.”

Her husband, Harvey, snorted, ignoring the scowl his wife shot him over her shoulder to talk to them over her. “Fu’get that. They so much as look yer way, yous let _me_ know. My brother’s gay.”

Dick fought hard not to let his brows pinch at that last tidbit, well-intentioned as it may have been meant. Harvey gave him and Jason a thumbs up like they were all part of a club now.

Rough as they were around the edges, he could at least appreciate their awkwardly semi-ignorant support. He returned the thumbs up. It wasn’t anything new to him really anyway, getting similar awkward sentiments in the past from even the most open-minded friends when they had first found out he was bi.

Even Bruce, worldly as he was, and as normalized as it was to him now, had been known to make an unintended show of his support for his eldest’s preferences. Dick could still remember the first year that he had come out to Bruce, the man had gone from watching every girl Dick brought home to watching every boy as well, asking Dick covertly if they were a potential romantic relationship. Every single one.

Dick turned back to Jason, leaning in close so there was no chance of being overheard, just in case Sarah really was going to try to listen in on them. “You okay?”

Jason gave a rueful smile. “Besides wanting to get five minutes alone with Carter, peachy.”

Dick’s own anger was still sitting coiled in the pit of his stomach too, but that was fine, he only smiled brighter, unbothered for all outward appearances. Not because he wanted to cover it this time, but because he had an outlet for it in mind already. “We should go out tonight. A date night.”

It was to his own surprise when Jason blushed just the slightest bit. He had started doing that an awful lot. It kind of looked cute on him actually. “Beg your pardon?”

Alfred would be doubly proud, Dick mused to himself at the overly proper response dropping out of Jay’s mouth. His wide grin only sharpened the slightest bit. “It will be good for us, a bonding exercise. We’re supposed to be checking this place over for suspicious activity or involvement of any kind in the homicides taking place. We’ve checked over the property, we’ve seen how lax the staff is. I think we need to learn more about some of the other guests now. Sarah did say that several were repeat guests here, maybe there’s something there.”

Jason’s blush faded, tension easing from him. “Might as well, nothing else has turned up yet. If I didn’t know for a fact just how unflappable Bruce’s anti-killing policy was, I would really start to think he committed those murders himself in some elaborate ploy just to trick us into going to therapy.”

Dick winced, “Sounds more like something Slade would do for his kids when you put it like that.”

Jason grimaced before muttering something under his breath that sounded a bit like ‘poor Joey’. “Who do we gotta kill to trick them into taking parenting classes, huh? Maybe we could get Bruce and Slade to go together. Survivor takes all. I could get Rose’s help and we could-

“Jason, focus,” Dick insisted, his smirk showing through anyway.

“Right right, so you want to check into the patient files.” Jason glanced back towards the doorway that Gary had just led the Carters out of. He turned back to Dick, a deeper understanding in his eyes. “And if while we’re doing that we happen to gain a certain couple’s home address or cell phone numbers to pass along to various annoying but benign calling services that will stalk them until they move or get new numbers…

Dick didn’t know who was grinning wider now between them, but he felt that closeness that Mary had been mentioning before all over again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason and Dick work on 'rebuilding intimacy' together for a night. Yes, it includes some roleplay.

They managed to get through the rest of the session relatively pain free, afforded some wiggle room to just talk between themselves while Mary prowled around the rest of the groups. Dick hadn’t given up screwing with Jason at all, much to Jason’s chagrin, but Jason had still managed to relax more as the drinks settled in and the adrenaline from the near-fight had left him.

“So, you heard her,” Dick had grinned at him, living up to his namesake. “What’s something I do in the bedroom that just rocks your world, Little Wing?”

Jason had grinned through his own flush and had flicked a few drops of his drink over to splash the older man in the face. “I love that one thing you do when we’re in bed… you know… where you finally shut up and go to sleep,” Jason snorted.

Dick had laughed in return even as he had flicked his head to shake the few drops away that had hit his hair. That stupid, bouncy, full hair. “Aw that’s sweet, and here I was going to say I love the _sounds_ you make! Nothing like trying to fall asleep next to a broken muffler. Especially after you’ve had a few drinks, then you really outdo yourself with your snoring. If I played a recording of it to Bruce, I bet he would just think it was the bat mobile revving up.”

Eventually Mary had thanked the group again for their participation, and invited everyone to stay and mingle more if they wished over drinks.

Several actually made their way out right away, heading back to their own rooms hand in hand, close enough to each other that it was clear to all that they were going to be continuing their ‘rebuilding intimacy’ session as soon as they got there. Harvey and Dennise were amongst the first to head out in just such a manner.

Sarah had grabbed Denis’s arm like he could either go with her or give it up entirely, pausing only long enough to give another giggle and wave towards Jason and Dick as they made their way out. “Can’t get enough, jus’ like you said,” she had laughed cheekily, speech maybe a little on the slurred side.

Deciding to get a decent start on their own ‘date night’ Dick and Jason had started to wander out behind the majority of the departees, mindful of the sparce group left behind that would be up for a while yet. It wouldn’t be a problem to still go around the place unnoticed so long as they were mindful that people would still be out and about in the area.

They only made it as far as the hall, however, when they were stopped by Gary, the pudgy man flagging them down as he shuffled over to meet them. Neither of the Carters were in sight any longer. “Mr. Hood, Mr. Grayson, I want to apologize again, with deepest sincerity. I don’t know what I can say to truly express just how much-

Dick, ever diplomatic, offered an understanding smile and wave of his hand. Jason could admit there were times that charm of his came in handy. “That’s alright, Gary, we appreciate that you and Mary had our backs. We’ll be just fine.”

Gary looked rather uncertain. “Well, I wanted to let you know that right now the Carters have asked that they be allowed to stay with the understanding that they make no further contact with either of you… I’m willing to give them that chance, but I wanted to let you both know that if anything else should occur- _anything_ at all, we will be proceeding with a ban, and they will be asked to leave immediately. Mary and I both will be keeping an eye open, but if you happen to see or hear anything else during the duration of your stay-

Another easy smile, even brighter, and another easy wave. Jason had to smirk, because it was easy enough for Dick to be so diplomatic when they already had plans for relatively harmless retribution. “Seriously, we appreciate it, I think it should be fine now though.”

There was a moment where Gary merely nodded along, a semi-awkward silence settling between the three of them when the man didn’t move on. Gary’s eyes turned then to the lounge where group had just let out, and then turned back to them with a little chuckle that acknowledged that they had hit a lag in the conversation.

“So,” he chuckled self-consciously, before pulling an odd accent that Jason couldn’t place. “ _Anyway, how is your sex life_?”

Jason almost choked on the air he had just been breathing, entirely caught off guard. He was glad he had finished his drink at least or he would have done a lame spit-take like this was some awful romantic comedy.

Dick’s reaction didn’t match his own at all, the man actually giving a literal hoot of laughter like he did only when he was particularly tickled, such as when he was watching The Penguin try to run away from them. His face lit up in gleeful excitement. “The Room! Nice!” He noted the incredulous way Jason looked at them both now. “Wait, have you not seen The Room?”

The confusion on his face only deepened, Dick looking personally offended for a half-second before Gary brightened up, “Oh, well there’s a great date-night idea right there I’d say. A little movie night for you two.”

Dick’s smile returned, genuine this time. “Oh, it’s on! But- later. We um… we already kind of have a little date night planned for tonight,” he grinned, Jason nearly jumping when Dick’s arm slid around his waist for Gary’s benefit. “If you’ll excuse us.”

He could feel that stupid heat returning to his face all over again, but with Gary watching he tried to play into it, forcing a sly smile to cross his lips in an imitation of Denise less than an hour prior.

Gary smiled even wider. “Excellent! Well, enjoy your night then. Oh, here, take this. I was supposed to hand them out in group tonight.” He fished into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a pamphlet, a piece of folded black paper with white text and little red hearts on it. He handed it over to Jason. “For um… inspiration.”

Jason turned the pamphlet over for them to get a look at. He felt his stomach clench at the heading when he read it. _‘Fifty Ways to Drive your Partner Crazy!’_

Gary gave a final cheesy wink before walking off, on to find another unsuspecting victim.

Dick read over his shoulder, giving a snort. “Now there’s a book _you_ could write. You drive everyone you meet crazy. Fifty is a low number, really. You hit that number by breakfast time, easy.”

Jason offered him a scowl before flipping it open and pretending to study the list very seriously. “Huh, weird. Being Dick Grayson isn’t on here. That’s just… so weird. They really should have made that top of the list.”

Dick’s grin was nothing short of shit-eating. “Yeah, I have to agree to you, I should definitely be on top.”

Jason died all over again- on the inside- as his face heated through like a furnace, putting every single blush he had surrendered thus far to shame. Dick was left cackling up a storm, saved from Jason’s swing aimed upside the back of his head only because he ducked when he doubled over to grab his own stomach from the force of his own laughter. 

X

“No pouting on date-night, Little Wing,” Dick chuckled, strolling along without a care in the world down the darkened hallway.

Jason pouted even harder, grinding his teeth in irritation. “Honestly, if this is your idea of a date then I can tell you right now exactly why you’re still single! Stop calling it that in any case. It’s weird, and so are you.”

Dick scoffed, still in far too cheery a mood as he juggled around the cleaning supplies in his arms to dig through the custodial jumpsuit he had snagged from the on-site laundry rooms just before turndown. “Like this is the worst date you’ve ever been on,” he quipped. “Come on, I got you a nice suit and everything.”

Jason tugged self-consciously at the matching jumpsuit he had indeed been given to put on by the older vigilante as he pushed along the mop bucket with his other hand. He had assumed they would be going out in their usual alter egos, but Dick had shot down both that and the possibility of just going out as lost lock-picking patients.

Instead they had donned the stolen jumpsuits and a set of bad wigs and fake facial hair that Dick had brought along in his suitcase- just in case; because being over-prepared was a bat’s life-blood. It had proved more beneficial than they could have originally assumed, because after they had snuck out of their room and made their way inconspicuously into the custodial closets for some props, they had been rewarded with a finding of a full set of keys left hanging on the wall. Their ticket right into the private offices.

Dick pulled the set out of his pocket now as Jason pushed up the thick glasses rescued from the 70s that Dick had loaned him and scratched a little at the thick black mustache he had been given because the adhesive was irritating his upper lip.

He would suffer through it though. He had left the wig up to Dick to deal with, a shaggy blonde thing that clashed horribly with his skin tone and kept falling down into his eyes. Dick grinned way too brightly as he started testing keys in the office door. He had always loved cases that called for disguises. “This is perfect actually. Tonight’s theme is ‘rebuilding intimacy’ after all. What better place to start than with a little bit of saucy role-playing?”

Jason snorted in indignation. “Russell and Gus, the nighttime janitors, is your idea of saucy role play? Never mind what I said before- _this_ is why you’re single.”

Dick stifled a laugh as he finally found the right key and opened up the office door. “It’s the most forbidden of loves. Their job is to clean, but they just can’t help how messy they get!” he jested, tone overly breathy and scandalous. “Now get in here, Gus, and treat Russell to your infamous spit-shine technique- GAHH! Gross!”

Jason smirked in satisfaction at the level of horrified disgust that Dick now sported as he returned his mop back to the bucket. He had zero remorse for having smacked the damp strands against the other man’s side, a big wet-spot now seeping into the jumpsuit there. Payback. 

The look Dick gave him was far less than amused. “You at least realize how gross that really is, right? That thing cleans the bathroom floors!”

Jason shrugged, nonchalant. “What can I say; Gus just can’t help how messy he gets.”

Dick rolled his eyes, but let it go. For now anyway. 

He turned back to the interior of the office, moving in further to get a look around, dumping most of the cleaning containers on a small couch pushed up against the wall, save for some polish and a rag. A quick glance around the room showed no cameras apparent, where in the halls they had been sparse but obvious. He and Jason set about the room, pretending to clean while they did a quick search for any candid cameras. There wasn’t much to search in the small office room. Besides the couch there was mostly just a desk and a couple filing cabinets. When they turned up nothing between them to suggest they were being watched, Dick turned to the desk and Jason moved to the cabinets. Both were locked, but that was fine, they both had enough forethought to keep a few basic lock picks on them at all times and set to work.

Jason had just popped the first drawer on the filing cabinet when he heard Dick make another squawk of surprise, turning around to check he was okay. He was. Of course he was, but he had gotten into one of the lower drawers of the desk and was giggling into the back of his hand now. “Oh my god, I think I found the contraband drawer!”

Jason moved closer so he could see, and he sort of wished he hadn’t. In the bottom drawer were a few porn mags, a bottle of cherry-flavored lube, a zip-lock bag containing a strap-on, and a pocket pistol, Smith and Wesson Bodyguard model.

Jason rolled his eyes as he turned back to his own cabinet. “Do you really think they confiscated those off grown patients and then just held onto them, Dickie? Wake up.”

With his back turned he couldn’t see Dick’s face, but he could practically feel the realization as it hit him. The drawer closed a little bit quicker than it strictly needed to. “Not that I’m a prude or anything,” Dick quipped, “But I’ll just say it makes me a lot more hesitant to touch the top of this desk at all. I should have put more effort into it when I was cleaning a moment ago.”

“Whose desk is it anyway, officially?” Jason questioned, only half paying attention now as he started slipping through files, working his way towards… _ah-ha!_ The Cunningham file was still there, and a good place to start searching. As a bonus, also so close to the Carter’s file. He’d get that in a moment, taking out a small spy camera to start taking photos.

“Looks like this one is used by both Gary and Mary for record-storage.”

“Amongst other things,” Jason snorted. “That couch is way more suspect now.”

Dick made a small, disturbed noise, but continued working, turning on the computer and pulling out a flash drive. One thing to be said for industrial jumpsuits, the pockets were huge. Jason started pulling other folders out to snap pictures of, Sarah and Denis, Harvey and Denise, a few others that had admitted even in passing to being repeat patients. The folder contents were mostly the forms they had all signed for agreements and permissions given for treatment, along with emergency and personal contact information.

The return ones all had printouts, however of expense reports of amenities offered for an extra charge, such as food and drink items or extra towels they lifted when they left… as if they wouldn’t be charged when their cards were on file. The Cunninghams had been charged for two lifted robes from the look of things.

Jason turned then to other files from past homicide cases in connection with this place, finding a few of those names too. Dick hummed behind him as he took more and more files off the computer.

“You suck at stealth, you know that?” Jason muttered, mostly to himself.

Dick heard him anyway. “It’s just that there are patient files here with Gary and Mary’s personal notes attached to them, and I’m looking at ours right now.”

Jason’s head snapped around in interest embarrassingly fast. “What are they saying about me?”

He ignored Dick’s snort, abandoning the cabinet for the moment to turn to the desk instead, lightly hip-checking Dick to be able to get next to him to see the computer. His own file wasn’t the tab currently filling up most of the screen. Dick’s was. It didn’t even cross Jason’s mind fast enough to maybe allow Dick his privacy, but at the same time this wasn’t really Dick’s file so much as the falsehood of Dickie Grayson, boyfriend in need of couples therapy.

Dick made no protest either, leaning in to read more as well, pointing out to Jason what he had found interesting. Jason read off the notes that had been typed out in a red font under brief summarizations of their sessions.

‘ _Mr. Grayson seems open to communication and voices a willingness to make accommodations around his partner’s stated needs. Almost always accommodating and placating; unsure if genuine or part of a deeper need to please to gain approval of peers and perceived authority figures. Cheerful both as a natural setting, but also in times of stress. Coping mechanism? A shield? Or perhaps a weapon- he has some skill in manipulating other’s emotions towards the positive- influencing through his own cheerfulness- unsure if this manipulation is intentional or subconscious._

_Welcoming of attention, has expressed distress in response to feelings of distance or inattention from his partner. Often children of celebrities [Mr. Wayne in this case] develop inferiority complexes. It’s possible that attention is directly associated with praise, acceptance, or even used as a substitute for love for Mr. Grayson- thus a lack of attention from partner could be triggering feelings stemming back to childhood insecurities that are only further exacerbated by the combined trauma of experiencing sudden loss at such an early age [see attached file: Gotham Chronicle; Horror at Hailey’s Results in Two Deaths]._

_More information needed, consider above ‘working theories’ for now.’_

Jason didn’t know whether to snort or wince at all that. He tried to spy Dick’s own reaction out of the corner of his eye. There wasn’t much of one outwardly, aside from the slight furrow of his brow and the general silence he held as he re-read it all.

Fact or fiction, it had to be a strange thing to get the unabridged take on what someone thought of you- or the you that you were presenting to them anyway- especially in a cross examination like this. Jason suddenly wondered if he wanted to see his at all. It could be all bullshit. Would that keep it from spiraling around in his thoughts like it was so obviously doing in Dick’s?

Dick’s own brow continued to furrow, doubts slipping in. Those were the sort of doubts Jason knew too well. The kind that haunted you for a long time down the road. The kind that crept up in a person’s lowest moments when they recall all the failings that had ever been pointed out to them. Jason did that sort of thing to himself enough as it was. He was aware of that much all on his own. He didn’t need to invite someone else to add on to that mess. Jason knew in that moment that he wasn’t going to look at his file to see what they had to say about him, and he didn’t want Dick to do so either.

If there was one more murder to take place in connection with this place, Jason suspected he had just witnessed it happen to Dick’s self-confidence. He gripped the other man’s shoulder and gave it a light push back towards the filing cabinet. “You are the worst when it comes to gossip articles, Dickie Bird. You’re on cabinet duty. I got this. Just get clear shots of the rest of the patient files we need.”

Dick actually hesitated, taking a half-step towards the files behind them before glancing back to Jason. Jason could feel his desire to question, to maybe to ask Jason for some sort of validation- either for himself or for that ‘prognosis’. Desire aside, the silence remained, growing heavier in the room. Jason took some pity on him. “You can’t believe everything you read, Goldie. Sure, you smile like an idiot, but these people are the real fools if they think you’re doing it to be manipulative. You’re just annoying is all. A nice, annoying guy- hence why people gravitate to you. Simple as that. Take it from a guy that looks for the bad in everything. If it was there I’d see it.”

A very small, fragile huff of amusement left Dick, but that furrow was softening between his eyes. Jason’s win.

Then the pendulum of Dick’s emotions swung completely the opposite way and suddenly that smile was back and beaming bright. “Annoying? You just said earlier that you thought I had a _nice_ smile!”

Jason gave him another shove, a little harder now and turned back to the computer with a roll of his eyes. “Yeah, but we already agreed I said it just because you had said it first. Just get to work. What kind of Bizarro world is this that I’m the one telling you that?”

Dick snickered and turned back to the filing cabinet, picking up the spy cam Jason had left to start snapping pictures.

Jason closed Dick’s file, and then his own that had been behind it without sparing it a glance. Everything copied over to the flash drive, but he had no intention of looking at that later either. He would let the others worry about what the shrinks said about him. It was no skin off his ass at the end of the day, and even easier for him to ignore or blow off if it came bouncing back at him down the line through his family’s mouths rather than some stranger’s report.

Jason made himself snort out loud at the very thought of how fast Dick would have laughed it off if it had been Damian that had tried to tell him that his cheery disposition was a master manipulation.

Dick’s chuckle was so soft behind him that Jason nearly missed it. “You just got done busting me for making noises, Little Wing. What’s got you so amused?”

Jason didn’t see why he shouldn’t share. “I was just thinking about the demon brat. That’s reason enough to laugh.”

“Jason-

“No, but hear me out. I’m thinking about how he was when he first came to us, and how he is now… you know, still a brat but less of an outright demon… and how he is towards you as opposed to say every other person on Earth- with the sole exception of Jon- who also is a perpetual smiler… holy shit-rockets, Fatman; the docs might be onto something! Turns out a smile is the greatest secret weapon known to man after all.”

Jason chanced a glance over his shoulder, because he just had a feeling…

Yep, there it was, that twitchy curl on Dick’s lip that he got when he was trying hard not to be amused, to hold back that smile. Dick saw Jason spy it, and pointedly turned away, back to the folder files. That was fine, Jason swore he could hear the grin breaking free as the older man did so, that tension from before now melting out of his back and shoulders so Jason gave it that final push.

“Okay, so now that we know the secret of how to become master manipulators, we can take this important discovery back to Bruce. It might take some convincing, and maybe a powerpoint presentation- we’ll make Tim do that- but I think once he masters this new weapon that will be it for us. All the criminals will either run for the hills or turn themselves in for rehabilitation.”

Dick was trying not to laugh. He was failing. “Okay Jason. Ha ha,” he snickered.

Jason’s own grin was pretty wide on his own face too. “Hey I’m just saying, what could be more terrifying than a Batman who smiles?”

X

Dick frowned down at Tim in his lap, the younger man already moved on from paying him the same attention, eyes turned once more away from the camera and towards the glow coming off the various monitors of the batcomputer. Whatever had caught Tim’s attention in the middle of their conversation had him typing away at the extended keypad in front of him as Dick tried to sort out the conversation that had occurred up to this point. He shifted his laptop from his lap to his knees, fishing into the mini-bag of cashews hidden in the nest of his crossed legs along with all the other snacks he had raided from the mini-fridge.

It was nearly four in the morning, peak snacking time for a bat.

Also peak research time, and they were all in the thick of it. After returning the jumpsuits and keys and shucking their disguises, he and Jason had retreated to their room to start in on the dissecting of the files they had collected between them.

Jason had uploaded and transferred all the spycam photos and downloaded documents to the main computer back in the cave, while Dick started sorting copies on his own laptop into subcategories. He had been going through his debriefing of the mission so far with Tim since Bruce was still out of the cave.

The onslaught of information dumping and collecting might validate a headache, but that wasn’t the cause behind Dick’s frown at present. That had been caused when he had pointed out the Carter’s file to Tim to get him to add their information to the special program Barbara had created and bequeathed to Tim under Bruce’s nose.

Relatively harmless in nature, but apocalyptic in terms of petty blackholes to get tossed into, the program basically disbursed the information fed to it to every automated calling machine and soliciting center on record in the United States. Dick had watched Babs test it on a burner phone once. Within a day it had been rendered unusable from the unending influx of calls and messages. Jason had been the one to lovingly name the program ‘the anti-Lazerous pit’ because “no one made it out alive”.

When he had handed the Carters over to Tim, however, he had taken a second and third look at the name before doing a quick double check online with heavy hesitance, “Are you positive this is the guy that acted like such an ass to you and Jason? Mr. Carter? Mr. Jonas Carter? Wife Mrs. Justine Carter? Are you positive?”

Dick glanced over at the printed photos of the personal files that Jason had nested all around himself at the foot of the bed, seeing the Carter’s names just as Tim had repeated them back, along with the check-in date that matched their own. The ages seemed close enough and the height, weight and ethnicity all corresponded. He knew of no other ‘Carters’ currently staying for counseling. “Like 99% Timmy, safer bet than most condoms.”

Tim still looked very unconvinced. “It’s just got to be a mistake, Dick. The guy you’re giving me the information of is _Judge_ Jonas Carter.”

Dick shrugged. “So?”

Tim turned back to the screen long enough to blink at him like it was obvious. “Judges are not supposed to have biases. And Judge Jonas Carter has actually had a past controversy where a teacher that had been fired for being gay tried to disqualify him from ruling on his case under the insistence that he was unable to rule impartially. Judge Jonas Carter denied it, and with nothing to prove otherwise the disqualifier was dropped. That teacher ended up losing his case, by the way. Point is, something like that is a pretty big deal for a judge to make a fuss about so publicly, and Carter has no records of past public discriminations. It’s sort of weird that he’d just suddenly slip up like that in such a blatant way out of nowhere. I mean, it’s good it happened I guess; if you or Jason can write up a witness account I can pass it along to one of Miss. Vale’s competitors to get a story released as soon as this Sunday. Get some mistrials started for a lot of people that might in fact need them. It’s just… oddly out of character for him to suddenly- What is it, Dick?”

He had glanced back to the screen just long enough to see the deep scowl spreading across Dick’s face and address it. Dick instantly tried to take the edge out of his expression. It wasn’t like Tim deserved it anyway. “Sorry, just… okay, maybe hold off on tossing them into the anti-pit for now. Just… Bruce swears up and down that his old pal Cunningham committing murder would be wildly out of character for him. I’m not about to give this Carter guy a pass on his behavior, but if there’s a possible cause behind people acting so far outside of character it bears further investigation.”

He hadn’t assumed Jason had really even been listening to their conversation, hunched over as he was in full concentration over the print-outs. When he let out an obnoxious snort, however, Dick was fast-corrected from his assumptions. “Or maybe neither fuck up was actually out of character and it turns out some people that seem okay just fucking suck. Nobody should know better than this family that masks are not just worn by crazies in capes.”

Dick didn’t argue the point, but he did try to hope for a better outcome than that.

“You both have been feeling 100% yourselves though?” Timmy piped up over the monitor, keys still clicking away under it all as he continued to work away on his side. “Nothing out of character?”

Dick just shrugged before cracking a signature smirk. “Well now that you mention it, Jason’s been acting a lot nicer towards me. Maybe there’s something to be said for this retreat after all.”

Tim cocked a brow in response, but Dick noticed the way Jason had suddenly gone super still at the foot of the bed, as if he had stopped breathing all together to put every effort into listening in, eyes wider where they stared unseeing down on the photos in his hands. Tim’s sardonic voice filtered through. “The fact you haven’t maimed each other is already high praise to the counselors there. You guys figure out your ‘love language’ yet?”

Dick snorted a laugh, smirk breaking into a sharp grin that screamed of impending mischief before he let his gaze slide to the side to watch Jason for any repercussions that he might have to duck. “Working on it. Turns out that Jason’s ‘love language’ includes yelling out to a whole room about how much he loves and can’t get enough of me!”

It was impossible to say whose head spun around faster between Tim and Jason, but Tim was the only one left sputtering as Jason’s face burned that same red from the meeting. His leg straightened out so fast from where he had had it folded up that Dick was unable to both block it and protect the laptop from falling at the same time as Jason’s foot planted firmly against his hip and shoved him squarely off the side of the bed.

Dick twisted in the awkward drop to protect the laptop, watching Tim’s face take on a shade of amusement for the trip they were both sent on in the screen right before Dick hit the floor beneath him, cashews scattering all around him as he grunted with the impact. It didn’t particularly hurt, hardly even diminishing his smile, which only came back along with some chuckles as Jason glowered down at him from up on the bed. “That was only to shut up that judgmental asshat, and you know that! Don’t get it twisted!”

Dick only started laughing harder, Jason’s scowl darkening to something near murderous, but he waved a hand in hopes of staving off another attack. “Oh my God, feel the irony with me that he’s a judgmental judge! An asshole, yes. But it’s literally his one job and he’s nailing it in all the worst ways.”

Jason didn’t dignify Dick’s humor with further response, rolling his eyes before turning back to his own work, leaving Dick to sort himself out on the floor.

Tim’s groan at Dick’s observation was low enough to be under his breath, but the microphone picked it up anyway. “Okay, so I’m going to assume based on that that you both are the same as always,” he sighed.

Dick turned his grin back on the screen as he turned them both upright into a seated position against the side of the bed. “Is that your official _judgement_ call, Timmy?”

Tim made a show of closing his eyes and taking a very slow breath in and out. Dick could feel the disturbance in the force that meant Jason was rolling his eyes once again behind him. “I’m going to recommend that Bruce start taking your reports directly,” Tim informed him flatly.

“Awe, but I enjoy our little talks.”

“They’re definitely infinitesimal.”

Dick didn’t find that dry wit of Tim’s particularly enthralling, but Jason let out such a bark of laughter that he jumped for a moment, tossing a pout back over his shoulder even though Jason was still turned away from him and couldn’t see it.

“Dick,” Tim continued, “I’ll try to also comb through the files you sent me when I get the chance, but before I do that I just want to ask you for your honest opinion in this. I know what Bruce thinks, and the faith he has in his friend, and he’s banking on this retreat since it’s the only connection we have between the homicides that have occurred in similar fashion in the last several months. But just between us, do you have any reason yet to think he might be right?”

“Besides the fact that he usually is?” Dick jested before that smile slipped slowly off of his face, playful mood giving way to the seriousness of the situation and Tim’s naked faith in their intuitions. He really didn’t have any indications yet that anything malicious was occurring under the surface of this place. Tensions and emotions ran high sometimes, but that was kind of the goal, wasn’t it? ‘Feel it so you can heal it,’ as Mary had once instructed during their first group session when one of the husbands had broken down in frustrated sobs during their first group session.

There really wasn’t a lead for them to-

“Yes.” Jason suddenly spoke up, tone so different from before, full of focus and the determination that a hound catching a scent might hold, “There just might be something afoot.”

It was always fairly obvious when Jason had been rereading his Sherlock collection, Tim and Dick both mouthing ‘afoot’ back to each other without really meaning to do so. Dick shook it off and twisted back around to get another look at Jason, who was still astutely hunched over his photos. “You actually found something?”

“Maybe, not much but… come up and look at this.”

Dick lifted the laptop onto the bed again first, pulling himself up and shaking off a few stray cashews- saving one that had been trapped in the fold of his shirt to pop into his mouth- before sliding on next to both Jason and laptop-Timmy.

Jason was staring down the photo in his hand like he was trying to activate some heat-vision, but turned it over to Dick to look at. It was the third page of Sophia Cunningham’s registration file. Very little personal information, mostly just billing stuff. Dick wasn’t sure where this was going. “Um, okay? You wanted me to note how she splurged on aspirin from the commissary store while she was here?”

“No, the recommendations field. If someone recommended this place you’re supposed to put down their name so that they get a discount or rewards on their next stay. Sarah mentioned to me on that first night that Dennis was the one that recommended this place to Sophia and her husband.”

Dick indeed saw that Sophia had marked down Dennis’s name under the recommendations field.

“Okay… that’s a pretty common program, Jay. Heck, I earned Babs a ten dollar discount on Foodfuel because I used her referral link. That reminds me, you interested in signing up for a food delivery service? I can toss you a referral link if so.”

“I hear that YumChums is better,” Tim mulled around.

“You just want to sell him on Yumchums because they give their members a fifteen dollar discount for referrals! They have a higher delivery fee though, it will cost him more in the long run to use it- don’t do it, Littlewing. Tim, you don’t even need that fifteen dollars- you little miser. You’re making freaking CEO money on top of _two_ trust funds!”

“Hey!” Jason barked, bringing both their attentions back to the matter at hand. “I know it’s a common program, but that’s not the point.” Jason picked up another photo, this one for a Mr. Fredrick Foxworth. Dick instantly recognized the name from Bruce’s files on the homicide victims. “The Foxworths are one of the couples that attended earlier this year, and almost two weeks after their stay, Mrs. Foxworth stabbed Mr. Foxworth seven times in the gut. He bit it on the way to the hospital,” Jason recounted from the case files they had gone over before coming here.

Dick’s eyes drifted down to the recommendations field to find Sarah Brighton’s name filled in. “Are all of them like this?” he asked, meaning all the victim’s files.

“Only these two, the others left it blank, one of them filled in a name that seemed connected as family to them in some way.”

Dick bit his lip in thought. It was nothing solid by a long shot, but they had nothing else next to it. In fact, this was flimsy at best, the Brightons being loud about their advocations for this place in any case. Recommending it to all their friends, acquaintances, or Uber drivers wouldn’t have surprised Dick too much. He honestly hoped that was the case. As cynical as Jason could be, it would surprise him if he wasn’t also hoping it was in fact a matter of chance.

“They say two can be a coincidence,” Tim chimed in, although his bat-bred paranoia was also lifting its head right along with theirs.

“It can be,” Jason agreed. “Might as well cross it off the list if that’s all it is. I can easily invite Sarah to have lunch with me tomorrow. Press for a little more information on her connection to the victims.”

Tim made a sound of an exaggerated gasp, but Dick and Jason both glanced down in time to catch their younger cohort merely in the midst of a big yawn that continued for several solid seconds before he shook his head and reached for the coffee cup sitting next to him.

“Drop it!” Jason snapped, once again making both he and Dick jump in surprise. “When was the last time you slept for more than four hours?”

An answer was not forthcoming, and Jason’s eyes narrowed accusingly. “The last thing you need is more coffee. Tag Alfred or Babs in and get some sleep, Replacement. And by sleep, I don’t mean end the video call and go back to sipping your witch’s brew. Tell Bruce you’re done for the night.”

Tim clearly had no such intention of doing that if his own eyes narrowing were anything to go by. “I’m fine. I got way too much work to-

Dick cut in, jumping on Jason’s side to attempt encouraging sleep upon their severely overworked and hopelessly stubborn younger not-brother brother. “You know, if you really have so much work that you can’t afford to sleep I could give Damian a call and ask him to go down to the cave and give you a hand.”

The darkest shadow passed over Tim’s face, all of them hearing the phantom fight that would no doubt take place if it was suggested to Damian that Tim was in need of his help. Dick would never really unleash that torment upon Tim, able to hear Damian’s voice in his head throwing out ‘incompetent’ this and ‘useless Drake’ that. It was his biggest bluff, one he also used on Bruce too from time to time.

The most annoyed groan Dick had ever heard burst forth from Tim’s lips, distorting in the speakers before he snapped out a petulant “Fine then! You both can do your own research!” and ended the video call.

Jason snorted a laugh and rubbed at his own eyes. “Little tyke just gets so grouchy about naps.”

Dick chuckled along, hoping that Timmy really did take the chance to get some sleep. It might be easier for Tim to accept if he could put all the blame upon them rather than himself, and that was a blame that Dick was more than willing to bear.

Speaking of doing their own research… he turned back to Jason once more, leaning against his shoulder to be able to peer down at the Brighton’s file photos that Jason was now going over. “Let me ask you Timmy’s question, Little Wing. Do you think there’s anything really going on here or are you just doing an obligatory check? Being noted on two people’s recommendations page isn’t exactly damning evidence of any kind. I’ll be shocked if we don’t see them on anyone else’s that is still alive and well. As far as Tim thinking the judge might be acting out of character… I have seen probably hundreds of forms of people having their wills controlled or altered in some way or shape, but I have yet to see anything that turns people intolerant of homosexuals. It’s just not high up on the scale for most criminal masterminds I guess.”

“Yeah, I still stand by what I said earlier that sometimes people just suck, but I… I’m not 100% convinced yet that nothing is going on here. You’ve really been feeling 100% yourself this week?”

Dick paused to give it further consideration. Maybe he was a little more jokey, he and Jason had been more or less playful and relaxed all night. And looking back, maybe the jokes had been a little more risky in nature than Dick would normally ever pull with family as opposed to some of his closer teammates in the Titans like Wally or Kori, but in his defense they had been surrounded all night by suggestions of ‘intimacy’ and couples flirting all around them. Maybe he got a little caught up, a little extra relaxed with Jason.

The recollection of all Jason’s unprecedented blushes over the course of the night now had Dick thinking maybe he had overdone it a bit. Okay yeah, maybe it had been weirder than he had meant for it to be, but that was just a slip that he was now aware of and willing to dial back on, not exactly A+ mind alteration if that was going on here in any way, shape, or form. In the end he was left shrugging to Jason’s question. “I guess I haven’t felt that weird. Certainly not about to spread homophobic rhetoric in the halls or go out and take a life, which are the kind of things we are now trying to connect to this place and I just… I don’t see any solid connection like that yet.”

Jason was a little quiet, and Dick wanted to know what was bouncing around his head as he slowly and absently nodded along.

“Have you felt unusual in any way?” Dick followed up.

Jason’s brows pinched, but he gave a shrug anyway. “My usual is wanting to flip you off and suggest you pay a visit to someplace with a much warmer climate. So, maybe it’s a little unusual that I’m not doing that,” he hedged.

Dick rolled his eyes at that. “Your charm is too much sometimes. Okay then. So, what’s your plan for tomorrow with Sarah? Ask her out to lunch and just casually bring up spousal homicide over cheese sticks?”

“I have more tact than any of you give me credit for,” Jason scoffed in return, flipping through more of his file photos. “I figure if I invite her to join me in getting a drink I’ll not only be guaranteed her acceptance, but it will be child’s play to ease her into a talk of how counseling is going. Then, thanks to the Carters, easy to guide her into some shit-talking about other patients, and then a smooth lead-in to the repeating patients like herself and then boom, the referral program comes up ‘naturally’ when she’s about… probably two to three glasses in by that point, and feeling good and relaxed with the best drinking buddy she’s going to find in this place.”

Dick didn’t have much doubt that it wouldn’t work, but still he frowned just a little.

Jason caught it out of the corner of his eye, lowering the photos he was sifting through. “What is it?”

“Just… try to pace yourself tomorrow, Jay. You’ve been drinking quite a bit since we got here and I don’t really want the Brightons to have to deliver you back here again.”

Jason gave a snort in what seemed to be wry amusement that Dick thought he was drinking quite a bit. It of course only made Dick’s frown deepen to think that maybe Jason was used to it, or possibly used to taking in even more. He found himself contemplating perhaps a little too intensely about what Jason might be doing in his downtime when he was away from the family. “I don’t remember you ever being much of a drinker. Little Wing- Jason… if you ever need to talk about things- even to someone else, I-

Jason’s expression lost all humor as his head swung back up towards Dick, catching the line of thought and cutting it short, brows shooting up in earnest as he protested. “Oh, no it’s not like that, Dick. No, I’m not usually a big drinker, you’re right. Not between all the family and friends I’ve had in my life. I try to watch that stuff. When I lived with Roy we didn’t even keep that stuff around the base. Just- no sorry, my amusement was just for _you_ being the one to worry about _me_ on the front. I know I let myself slip up that first night, but on any regular occasion… just _if_ I drink, I can drink circles around you. That was why I laughed.”

Dick settled a bit, just a bit. He would probably forever have some lingering guilt leftover from letting Roy slip away down that path, for ignoring so many of those first warning signs of dangerous coping mechanisms right along with everyone else around the archer. For all their training in dealing with and helping civilians with addiction abuse… it had still managed to slip by them. Maybe because of arrogance, but the thought that it could and would hit so close to home had been unfathomable to him somehow- that someone like Roy, who had all the same training and education on how bad that sort of thing was and what it did to people, hadn’t been immune to falling down that same black hole. Roy had been the first to deny it was happening to him, and they had all buried their heads and followed his lead and then suddenly it had just been too late to do anything for him that hadn’t been just enabling. Dick didn’t know what Roy’s rock bottom was, but he knew he had to have hit it at some point in order to want to get clean, and as fortune had it, Jason had been there for him at just the right moment.

As much guilt as Dick harbored, he bore twice that amount in pride towards the younger man that had once shared his colors. “Okay, Little Wing, but that offer will forever stand in any case. Months from now, years, decades- anytime a problem seems too big, you got backup.” he insisted, whole heart in that promise.

Jason didn’t laugh or brush it off, he only nodded his head and met Dick very squarely in the eye. “Same on this side, Dickie.”

Dick appreciated hearing that, truly. To really believe for the first time in years that he could reach out and that Jason would actually reach back.

The moment of silence between them turned a little too heavy with the feels, and thankfully Jason was the one to break it when they both realized it. “Woo, okay so fun times, building intimacy and all. Okay, well, what do you want to try next? Hang on, we got a whole list now-

He jokingly reached towards the bedside table where Dick had tossed Gary’s pamphlet of ’50 things to drive your partner crazy’, but Dick shoved him back away from it with a laugh. Jason was such a shit. “Got a much better idea. We’re already making it a late night, might as well really do ourselves in and take in a little viewing entertainment. Like Gary said, a little movie night. I got The Room on Vudu that I can pull up on the laptop. You gotta see it. I tried to show it to Bruce once; I thought he was going to have a brain aneurism right before he walked out because he thought it was just too dumb.”

Jason couldn’t help the twisting up of his own face. “It’s a movie too dumb for Bruce to sit through, yet you love it? I mean, I guess that checks out, but-

“Just think Jay, if you can get through the first half hour, you can use the power of quoting it to drive B. absolutely mad! As a bonus, I’ll have one more person in this family that will understand all the amazing memes floating around the internet. Tim is a good start, but I must corrupt more!”

Jason gave a big roll of his eyes, but set the photos aside.

Dick’s win.

Dick grinned wide as he settled in next to him and got everything loading, twisting around to fish out a few more cashews hidden in the sheets. He happily ignored the look of pure disdain Jason held as he considered eventually sleeping in a mess of Dick’s crumbs.

Whatever. They had all slept in worse on missions before.


End file.
